The mindlessness of lap swimming

Hit the pool this afternoon an a wave of confusion and questions.  Sometimes, you just need the distraction of the mindlessness of lap swimming.  Just get in and suffer.  Back and forth and back and forth. 100.  Back and forth and back and forth. 200. Back and forth and back and forth. 300.  hang on to the rail and gasp.......   repeat.

5x300m  with 1:20 in-between and then a 200 breast cool down.  This is my PR for now.  4:42, 4:43, 4:46, 4:46 and 4:47.

I guess I will just run the leaderboard on that one

With running forbidden, I am really down to two activities.  Now wouldn't you know it, this weekend was beautiful.  In fact Saturday was very nice.  That said, my day was taken up by getting abused by Chris as he again went to work on my on-piece calves and hammies followed by moving 3 yrds of beautiful soil onto my lawn to top dress and seed it for the spring.  As well, the yard needed some help, so I pruned and turned my flower boxes - to keep them from turning to clay.

The fact of the matter is that I am getting old.  I mean I hate to admit it, but there it is.  I was really in pain by the end and I had to come in after the soil and take an Advil to get my self back in the saddle again... so to speak.  But.... as you can clearly see from the photos, we got the job done and the yard will continue in its perpetual awesomeness for a while with the addition of some simply fantastic 4-way mix from Reimers.

Then as I made my way back into the house, I realized that I f I did not get the Giant hosed off soon, I was going to have to do it in the freezing cold that was heading this way.... and in all honesty the weather had begun to dip even as I was procrastinating.  So.... back out I went and my fingers paid the price as they turned into claws as soon as I turned on the hose.  Luckily, I brought in a big bucket for soapy water and filled it with straight hot out of the tap.  This steamy soak undoubtedly made the Giant smile and kept my fingers limber enough to encourage the built up tar and gatorade to vacate its resting pace and leave the Giant with a big smile.  And as much as I was cold, I was a good triathlete and pitched and got Tri-Girl's Specialized all clean, too.

Monday was a bit of an off day and I was unable to make anything happen, but today I was all rarin to go and had everything by the door ready to be in the pool by 6:00 AM; however, for reasons beyond my control I did not make it out of the house on time as I had it in my head that I had loads of time before I had to be at the pool for 7.... nope..... as I mentioned I had to be there by 6:00.  So the best part of thei story, is that I brought my stiff to work ad then ducked out to the pool at the end of the day and lo and behold, I was there with three other people.... in this whole pool there were only 4 of us.  TOOO COOOL FOR WORDS.

Well, I picked a lane and hit the regular set and hammered out 5x300m with 1:20 inbetween and I was very pleased with myself.  I have no idea why my Garmin is somehow recording in spanish and then on the site it is recording that I swam 1500KMS.... not 1500M.... I have changed every setting there is to no avail.  I guess I will just run the leaderboard on that one.

First World Problems

After Monday it was back int he pool on Tuesday morning and then again on Friday.  Tueday morning I met up with IronMike and managed to get in a few laps together.  The pool was unusually busy and i had to make my way politely into the mass open area besides the two lanes that had been put in.  If they had put in the other lans 6 people could easily have been swimming, but no there were four people in there and they made it look cramped with their lack of coordination.  Needless to say, the lady swimming closest to me was seemingly quite put out by my request to slide over a tad to make way for little old me.  First world problems.


Then this morning, I met up with tri-girl and settled into a routine quite quickly.  It was busier than anticipated an I had to join in with some other fellows  and they were great, although not that fast, so I ended up having to just keep swiming, so instead of the usual 5x300m sprints, I maintained a solid tempo effort over the 31:00 I swam.  Quite proud of that actually.

Nothing more than a pipe-dream.

#170411146 / gettyimages.com

Well, since I cannot run for a while (6 weeks), I might as well make sure I am getting in the occasional bike while the weather is fair.  Juts a beautiful sunny fall day in Manitoba and all the while I was at work, I was longingly looking out the window in hopes of getting on my bike and I was certain that riding today was nothing more than a pipe dream.

Yet as I wrapped up another fine day the sun continued to shine and goad me on as I made my way through the epic 7K commute home. And, as I walked in the door wondering if it might be okay if I delayed dinner to take the Giant out for a spin, I was greeted by a run festooned Tri-girl who was already two paces ahead... as usual.

I was was pretty happy with my ride and was pleased that there was not much wind and that the geese and the sun stayed out to urge me on the whole way.

The world loves me

I'm into the pool 'cause my calves are done.  I am so mad at myself.  I know better... I really do.  I have waited too long and my calves and my hammies have turned to leather..... not the Corinthian supple kind, I am talking one solid chunk of rawhide.  After two sessions with the man with the thumbs (aka Chris the masher), I have pain where there was pain and pain where there was not.  After a month of sessions or so, I will try running again, but for the time being, its the pool and the bike for me.

The pool is going well and it is good to be back in it.  My times are coming down a bit and I am pleased.  I am sticking with my set of 5x300m, but I cannot seem to count and today I managed a doozy.  So in the 4th set, I happened to add an extra 100m.... thought the set felt long.

I tried to do a cool down of 200m but only managed 150 before I was out of time.  That pool is so fricken hot.... then the showers are hot and I cannot cool down. I was sitting at the bench and trying to put my clothes on and I could not stop sweating.  I left wearing my t-shirt and there was this cute little asian man as I left giving me advice that it was really cold out and I should put on my jacket.  Nice to know that the world loves me.

Catch up

Ok.  I fucked up... I just fucked up.  I know better, but I still go out and try to push myself and in the end I end up pushing too hard and hurt myself.  I am simply not a good patient.  I wait a bit, but it never seems to be enough.

So after pulling my calf on the 4th, I knew I needed some time off and I gave myself a week and then tried it out on the 11th and I was not really pushing myself as much as I was just trying to see where I was at and sure as shit, I hit the 5K mark and felt it go.  Son of a.......

Now I hobble....

We spent the time over thanksgiving finishing up a few projects around the cottage which, if I was wearing my HR monitor, I would have been surprised at all of the calories I have burnt.  

We went for several long walks and a few close to epic bike rides on the mountain bikes, but nothing of real note.

Back in the city now for the winter and my calf says that swimming is fine and biking is okay.

Hit the centennial this morning and felt really great about my times.

I was lucky to get a 30 minute apt with Chris over at Ness physio who managed to make me grit my teeth in agony in that short of time as he attempted to pry my congealed calf apart.  Good luck man... good luck.

 I even had the chance to get out into the +20˚C weather, albeit windy, and take my bike for possibly the last jaunt of the year.

If it t'was me, I would have openly wept

I ran into Dwayne this morning at the pool.  He had the bitter misfortune of making his way last week all the way down to Lake Tahoe for the Ironman only to be informed as he was in the water in his wetsuit, along with 2000 other competitors, that the race had been cancelled.  Due to the particulate matter in the air from a local forrest fire, the state officials along with race directors decided to cancel the race.  All that training and travel.  Think of the people from Germany that flew in to do the race...... thousands of $$ down the drain.  The domino effect from that decision would be unfathomable.  He mentioned that as he entered into T2 to get all of his kit and they just had the finishers medals, caps and shirts in a box - help yourself.  Wow, my hear goes out to him.

Above - Richard Lopez, Ironman hopeful,  reacts to the announcement.

Read about it here - Lake Tahoe Cancelled or Lake Tahoe announcement.


Here is the video of the announcer telling the participants that the race has been cancelled.

Me, well it was back at the Centennial  for my usual routine as of late.

5x300 with a 1 minute rest in-between.  I worked real hard today to get as much out of the set as I could and to also be as consistant as possible.  I will be honest with you and admit that I pushing myself hard enough that I was gasping at the end of each.

I was impresed with my times today... they are not fast, but on their way:  5:00, 5:01, 4:57, 5:02 and 5:05.  Not bad... not bad at all.

200m easy breast to cool down.

The wind continued into the Weekend

The weather was cold and windy, but I was at the cottage. My happy spot.

Saturday.

With some determination and plain old stubbornness, I forced myself out into the wind and the light rain. Cold or not, wind or rain, I know I will enjoy it.... I just have to get out there.  Sure enough that's exactly how it went down; or at least for the first 7.5K.

My left calf had been giving me grief for some time and as the week went on and on, I knew that it was starting to seize up - that, combined with a 0 stretch regimen had most likely put me in  a deficit.  Regardless of the ache, I know that once I am out there it has a tendency to settle down and do its job with out much complaint.  Well, at exactly the 7.67K mark I had that old familiar twinge.  I have had it about three other times in my life and all of them have ended badly with me not running for several weeks - 6 being the longest.  It feels like someone had snuck up behind me and stabbed me forcefully with a needle.  I was not pushing myself to begin with in a pathetic effort to protect it, but, I knew that if I did not stop immediately, I was going to end up in the 6 week category and not the 6 day one.

Thus, without any hint of ceremony, I hit stop in my Garmin and proceeded to walk.  It was around this point that I was rounding the back of the 6th hole of the golf course and decided to climb under the fence and walk the course home.  Very pretty walk.... just me the deer and the geese... even if it was gusting to 60KMPH.

Sunday was a bit more laid back, but I still wanted to keep the streak alive, so although I was not able to run, it should not effect my biking.  So, sunday morning, convinced Tri-girl to head out in to the light rain and gale force winds to boot about the beach on our mountain bike for and hour or so.

Here's the waves at the pier.

The bikes look so lonely in a rack that is usually packed all summer.

Up on the Southern ridge of the gravel pit.

With no real course in mind we set out and made out way to Pelican Point as we rounded the point, I felt that something was wrong with the rear cassette of my 25 year old Giant Ascent.  Well, wouldn't you know it, the rear cassette was spitting ball bearings and it was all over.  I am so proud to say that I wore it out after 25 years.... pretty cool stuff.  That said, I managed to get it into  semi working condition and limped home to exchange bikes.

From there I took B-doggle's Giant 17 inch - a wee bit small for me, but what the hey, you only live once.  Coming down to the beach was an absolute scream.  Wind in your face and you had to make a consorted effort to make any head way at all.

A few minuted later after battling out way down 8th we ended up detouring into the Cafe Krauss for an hour of laughs and port.... there was an offer of absinthe, but cooler heads prevailed and we decided to procrastinate until an evening when none of us had to drive.

After prying ourselves off the couch and downing the last bit of port we made our way home via the ski trail behind the gravel pit and winding our way by the curling club and home past the golf course. Nothing too spectacular, but a memorable day, nevertheless.

Determined to be

 Pooh would simply agree and say that it was a blustery day and that no one in his right mind should be out in such a torrent.  Instead, he might suggest that he stay home and get lost dreaming about the bothers.  Good thing I am not in my right mind.... hell, I am not even sure I have any mind left.

So...


out in to the wind and the rain I went
My mind bent
to the will of the weather.
Determined to be
nothing more that I was in the past
possibly beter than last
but no more wiser for the pain.

I can do better, but August is a long ways away.

Back to the Centennial for some lappage.  I ended up in a lane today with the oldest swimmer I have ever seen and this guy was awesome.  I was so humbled by his consistency and his determination.  He was not fast, but I don't think he cared on little bit about me.

I took the watch in the water today and recorded my 300m lap times for the 1500m.  I did 5x300m with a 1 minute rest in between.

4:58,  5:02, 5:06,  5:08 and 5:09.  12 second bleed is not that bad.  I was, in all honestly, not holding back much on these and I was quite winded at the rest stop.

I can do better, but August is a long ways away.

Keep on keepin' on

Although I really did not want to, I got my kit together and made my way out on to the street as soon as I got home from work.  Nothing special just a plain jane 5k.  About 1k in I came around a corner and saw a guy running ahead of me some way and decided that he should be caught.  That entertained me for about 1 more K and then it was back to the same ole same ole.  Pretty to run down Shier as the trees are really quite something this time of year.  Arrived home ina pool pf sweat and just in time to avoid the fall shower that mother nature had prepared for this fantastic evening.

So I am on day 12.  Starting on the 20th of Sept with a 9K run, I have been out and about every day since.  Why, you ask?  I haven't the faintest.  I really have no major pressing goal in mind, I am just seeing how long I can keep the streak alive.  Maybe I will stop tomorrow and maybe I will stop in June... who knows?  In the meantime I manage to make my way out and about and I keep on keepin' on..............
pool tomorrow.