Conquering Big Blue

So this past weekend I visited my in-laws in Iowa for the long holiday weekend and was able to get a decent amount of training in. On Friday I went for a ride around Clear Lake, which normally would have been 14 miles, but due to some questionable directions turned out to be over 20 (half of the extra mileage was in to some pretty severe headwinds, and three were on a gravel country road). On Saturday we headed to a Big Blue, a quarry popular with local divers. I ended up doing six trips across the quarry, which I estimate is about a fifth of a mile wide. Considering the facts this was my first open water swim since my last triathlon and I was not wearing a wetsuit, I was really pleased--my stroke felt nice and fluid and I did not have much trouble sighting (with the exception of one trip, in which I mistook my target). The workout was definitely a nice confidence booster before my first actual triathlon of the season in just over a week and a half. On Sunday I rode around the lake again at a nice leisurely pace, and today I hit the weights for the first time in a couple of weeks. I will try and get a few more quality workouts in this week, and then it will be time to begin my taper.

Back In The Pool!

So today started off just like any other training day. I woke up a little before 5:00 A.M. and got in a brisk four mile run around Hoboken (7:05 pace) before work. After I got home something extremely rare and noteworthy happened -- I actually did a swim workout! Yes, Virginia, my long swimming drought is finally over. The pathetic thing is there is a nice college pool three blocks from my house, so there is no good reason for my not swimming more (aside from sheer laziness). I ended up swimming ~1,600 yards, consisting of a 100 yard warm-up (probably too short I know), five 25/50/75/100 yard ladders (cut me some slack -- first time in the pool in like two years), and a 400 yard or so warm down. I was surprised that I did not feel too winded in the pool, although I am sure that my form was awful. I figure if I can consistently make it to the pool once a week between now and the end of the season, I should be in pretty decent shape for my race swims. Anyway, three workouts (and two blog posts) in two days -- not a bad way to start the week!