So I've been struggling with my swimming.
As with running, I can swim forever as long as you don't ask me to go fast. Unfortunately, they have these pesky little cut-off times in triathlons. The NJ Triathlon swim is 1.5 K (which I JUST looked up and found out equals 1640 yards), and you have to finish it in 1 hour and 15 min.
Easy peasy eh?
So I've been trudging to the pool twice a week, and swimming sets of 100s (I go to one of two pools: one is 25 meters, one is 25 yards. These details matter, people, trust me).
And I've been timing myself. And it's been looking like this:
2:56 (per 100 meters)
3:02
3:02
2:52
and blah blah like that. For a bazillion meters. I can't get faster. I'm toooo slow. Wah wah wah.
And these two tri chicks have been trying, like for-evah, to 'splain swimming to me. To no avail.
But last night My Life Changed. And all because a D.C. Tri nutrition clinic I dragged myself to didn't happen. The nutritionist got stuck in traffic, so we all hung around waiting and I started chatting with a woman who is a Swimmer. Capital S.
Of course I instantly started up my auto-whining and whinging to her and she starting explaining this and that including the concept of "descending." And you know what "descending" means? It means "go faster with each rep." Which normal running people know as the concept of "negative splits."
Finally L. asked me if I had a piece of paper (of course not, let's be real), so another friend donated her Victoria's Secret receipt (you can't make this stuff up, I promise) and on the back of it, L. came up with a workout for this morning's swim.
"But I can't possibly remember all that!," I wailed.
"What you do is you take this here receipt, you WET it, and you SLAP it on a kickboard which you then leave at the end of your lane."
Well hell's bells.
To make a long story longer, and this might not mean anything to non-swimmers (it barely means anything to me except I THINK I'm catching on!), I did this, 1400 yards, my first time EVER this morning (after waking up an hour early by mistake because I screwed up my clock when I set it last night so instead of getting up at 5:30 I got up at 4:30. And wondered if the sun had finally burnt itself out because there was no sunrise. Sigh.) Onward!
200 warm up
4 x 100
2:48
2:38
2:24
2:24
4x75
1:59
2:11 (??)
1:44
1:40
4x50
1:20
1:18
1:08
1:04
4x25
40
36
31
31
100 technique
2:35
100 easy
3:12
I. Did. It.
In 38 minutes! 1400 yards. And I did it descending, too!
I might not have learned how to eat correctly last night but I learned a more important lesson: I ROCK!
Amanda Beard can bite me.
