Swimming time trial

I went to the Y today, but was a little pressed for time so my workout got pared down to the minimum.

I needed to run 2 miles to make my minimum of 10 miles for the week, so I did that first. Darn, these treadmills aren't any easier than the ones at my other club.

Then I changed for the pool. Ewww, a couple of Asian ladies in the showers (speaking together in some language I didn't recognize) were SITTING on the floor of the showers to wash themselves off. I'd be afraid that I'd contract a bad case of athlete's butt.

The kids (usually pretty well-behaved at the Y, which is good to see) were getting canoe lessons in the "warm pool". I had the "cool pool" all to myself in peace and quiet for about 20 glorious minutes. The water was beautifully clean and crystal-clear - that's a nice change for me compared to my other club!

I noted I only had about an hour left before I had to leave for home, so I decided to do a 60-minute time trial. Just back and forth at a comfortable, sustainable pace, staying relaxed. Instead of stopping at the end for breathers, I did a breaststroke lap every 5 to 10 laps when I felt like taking a little break. Back and forth, back and forth. Stay comfortable, relax, don't fight the water, keep your head down, balance. Reach.

Stopped with about 20 seconds to spare at 42 laps. That's 2100 yards - woo hoo! That's just 12 yards shy of a half Ironman swim distance!! Best lap 70 seconds. Yay, that gives me hope that I can do much better this year than the 1:22 that I swam at Eagleman last June! And if I can sustain that pace in November, it will get me out of the water at Ironman Florida with 20 minutes to spare before the cutoff!! Dare I hope?

It's a faster pool than my usual pool, though, with a deep end and sides that overflow instead of splashing back. I also was wearing a different suit than usual - my regular one has a square neckline that acts like a water-scoop. I swam about 5 to 6 percent faster today than in a 1000m segment on Thursday in the other pool.

It seems to take me a very long time to get settled down and comfortable in my breathing. I start out breathing on 2 strokes (left-right), then do most of it breathing every 3 (bilateral breathing, left-right-left), finished up the last 10 laps or so every 4 (left-right-left-right).