Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The Fifth Chinese Brother

Day 2

Did not make it to bed before 10:20 last night… I felt it when I woke up, tired. Briefly considered that it was too cold to swim, with all the cold weather I would not have been surprised if the pool was covered with ice. Considering I paid for the month in advance, I was committed in reality that is the reason I paid in advance.

Arriving there was a good crowd and a lot of positive energy. I felt fairly good considering my lack of pool time these past several weeks. Mike was very gracious or sadistic, he purchased a restraining strap for my legs in an effort to reduce my scissor kick. It worked really well especially for the first 50 meters. Clearly this will help. It was obvious with that I was straining against the straps as I swam, to one point Mike quipped, “ …try not to get so angry Dr. Banner.” A good laugh. Very thoughtful and clearly he is doing his best to make us all better swimmers. Ann Marie has taken charge as the gate keeper, a good thing this allows Mike to coach without have to be the “bad cop".

The swim was good, though today I swallowed more of the pool than I have in my collective swimming lifetime. I felt like the First Chinese Brother swallowing the sea, I need to be the Fifth Chinese Brother. I tried not to think of the nastiness of that water. The bulk of the workout was a 1000 meter time trial. my time a dismal 19:50. The good part, lots of room for improvement.

The work morning flew by, and I had a great lunch with my favorite South Africa, Walter! It was good to catch up and talk about the future together.

The afternoon dragged, but that was good as I was able to accomplish a great deal. Evening passed by too fast and now it is time for showers, homework and bed.

Tomorrow is track, 8 x 400 @ a 1:31 pace. It will be faster than I have run in the last several months, but I am looking forward to the challenge. The temp is forecast at 19 degrees, but with the wind and moisture in the air it will feel like 10 degrees. Layers! Lots of layers!

Weight today 180.9 DAMN!!!! I am trending in the wrong direction. Time to toughen up.

1 comment:

CSP said...

Bob,

Good track workout this morning. Could have been a tad colder just to make us tougher!