Being the Fastest

This morning I went for a walk with Drew that included a stop at Modell's (sporting goods store) where I got some new moisture-wicking socks. I ended up walking for 2 hours, which was helpful in trying to get in the amount of hours I needed in my orthotics. (Total distance was 3.1 miles, but that included some window shopping in the time).

After the walk I headed home and took a little nap. Luckily, this time I woke up in time to make it to swimming with the Terriers. I was hoping that it wouldn't be as crowded today as it was the last time because I was thinking that several people would be at the St. Anthony's triathlon in Florida. I was right about that. It also look like a lot of people have signed up for the race-specific training for the NYC triathlon, which practices right before us in the pool. That also thinned out the pool for my session.

This time the swimming coach, Megan, was at practice, so that was better than last time. I decided that I would swim in the middle lane instead of the faster lane where I was the slowest person last time. That turned out to mean that I led our lane for the majority of the time. This was the work-out:

500 warm-up
6 x 150 drill
5 x 150 drafting drill
150 cool-down
Total 2300 yards (1.3 miles)

The warm was free-style, but every third length was backstroke.

The first drill was 50 swim, 50 3-3-3 drill (3 right arm stokes, 3 left arm strokes, 3 swimming strokes), 50 kick with no board. I found the kicking part to be really tiring. I started out doing the first four on my stomach and just turning my head to breathe, but the last two I had to do on my side and keep my head out.

The drafting drill was that we reversed order and swam slowest to fastest, trying to pace (and draft) off the person in front of us. I was the last one to go and the first 4 150s had seemed pretty easy because I guess I didn't realize how much I was using the person in front of me. When it got to my turn to lead, I was exhausted after the first 100. The last 50 was definitely a struggle. It's interesting to me that they would teach us how to draft in swimming when it's illegal on biking. But I can definitely see its benefits!

I only did a short cool-down because everyone else was getting out right away. I would have liked to do a bit more, but felt self-conscious.

After the swim, I headed to LBS to pick up my new bike pump. In case you were worried, I chose a color that matches my bike better so there can be no excuse for Drew to steal this one to want to trade. Speaking of Drew, he told me that he went for a ride today and did one loop in the park in 21 minutes and about 17.35 MPH. Makes me feel very, very slow. The only thing I can do is keep practicing and get better. While I was at LBS, I did ask about the cadence and they said that the magnet might be out of place. I'm going to try to look at it myself right now to try to figure it out, but it probably will require me to take it in tomorrow after work.