Saturday, January 9, 2010

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Day 4.

It was the last thing I thought of before I fall a sleep and the first thing I thought of when I woke up. Swim practice. I have tried everything to change my negative position on my swim days. That fact is, it is the Rock I must strap on my back and carry up the hill. That thought alone, forces me out of bed. At least on Tuesday the water was warm.

Arriving on the LTF pool deck I see the gang. No Corey and no Jeff though. Jay is ready, as is Ann Marie, Stacie, Rebbecca, Susan and the rest. Mulling around waiting for the days workout.
A quick announcement on the rules of LTF Masters Swim Payment Process and it is time. I hit the water and it is notably colder than Tuesday. It is a full 150 meters before I stop feeling the water temp.

Warm ups are good, I work with my strap binding my legs together in an effort to fix my lower body in the water. It will help, I am just not there yet. We have a series of 100’s and 300’s. The 100’s go fast, the 300's are tough. I am building character this morning. An hour and thirty minutes after we start, we are done. As always, I feel better for doing the work than if I had missed the workout. Swim is great for building core, strength, flexibility and conditioning. One drill we did today was “knock-out”, you swim 50 meters and each 50 you reduce the number of breaths you take. I started at 17, my next was 10 and my last was 5. It was an effort. One person did it in 1 breath, and Susan, the Olympian, did it without breathing. Impressive.

I remember seeing a special on marine training, they would be forced to swim, in gear, with boots, 50 meters underwater without breathing, to make it worse, they made you jump in, do a somersault underwater and than start. Two divers would follow you to keep you underwater if you tried to pop up for air. Maybe in my youth, but today, uh… no thanks.

Jack was a car rider today, he has started drama and is enjoying his new semester. Wil and he both have small colds, all a part of Georgia winter and rapidly changing temperatures.

Work keeps me very busy today. The evening comes quick, and Jack needs help with homework. We spend about 2.5 hours on history and math. I am reacquainted with 9th grade algebra, (except Jack is in 6th grade). I have to admit, I am stuck on one problem and call my brother-in-law Harry for help. It is nice to have an ex-math teacher in the family.

Off to bed as the snow is falling, the kids are hoping for a snow day. A long run tomorrow and it is supposed to be fast. Bring it!

No comments: