Nemo…
After taking 2 days off I returned to the pool today and got in a good swim. A fellow PTC Tri club member, Todd Atkins, spent some time with me on Friday and convinced me to slow down a little. His good advice was to not push a workout more than 10% over a personal best. If you read the last post I had just run 6.2 miles, it felt good but was about 35% more distance than a normal run. Todd had some good points, you risk injury by pushing too far too soon, and an injury now would put me behind in the long run. This became more evident as Friday carried on and I could feel the results of my run in my knees and hip flexors.
After taking it easy Saturday I returned to the pool. Best swim of my life. Some of you that know me know that last summer I was not capable of swimming 25 meters (the length of a regular pool) without having to take a break to catch my breath. Today I warmed up with a 250 meter sprint and then settled in for a 1000 meter swim. I could have easily gone 15oo meters, but I was pressed for time as the daughter had a birthday party. I’ll be working on speed during lunch this week and then set my sights on a 1 mile swim next saturday.
Last friday I was pleased to receive my new wetsuit in the mail. I purchased an xterra sleeveless wetsuit online for a whopping $99 plus shipping (thanks for the head up Scott!). This was a special deal that I could not pass up. Economically, it makes sense. It is about $40 plus shipping (both ways) to rent a suit for an event. I’ll probably need a suit for two events this year, so the math works out. Not to mention, its not cool to compete with something you never trained with. I learned that a long while ago. I’m waiting until it gets a little warmer until I use it for a workout and will definitely post my review here when the time comes.
Keep up the good work, maybe your wife will be able to join you on the swim and give you a good race in the pool.