AMAZING afternoon!

RUN 10 miles in 1:38, ave hr 141
SWIM 2400y in ~1hr, 3x400 swim-pull-swim

The run was fasted and by the last hours (made it to almost 13) I was nearly sick. Going to have to build this one slowly. The goal of the run was low HR, but I didn't manage that. Was it fatigue? Hunger? Dehydrated? Or still not slowed down enough? Dunno.

But what I really want to remember is the afternoon. I had a really short day at work and was able to leave early to meet the woman who was interested in my old wetsuit. The thing has been unused for a year now, it needed a home! After nearly 2 weeks of trying to coordinate our schedules there was an opportunity to meet in FP. Happy to leave work (had nothing more to do anyway) I took off with no plans to come back.

My plan was that I would give the suit to a new triathlete, not sell it. I'd hoped to help them out in the sport, besides I didn't need the money for a new one or anything. So I'd put a token price on it to keep away the resale-intended questioners. Turns out she's not signed up yet for her race, but she's planning one in Colorado later this summer. Good enough for me!! The suit fit her great, and it was my pleasure to surprise her by giving it away. YAY my suit will see open water this weekend!!

After this I went for a swim at the Y. I don't think I've ever done a late Thursday swim there? I always think it will be busy with kids or classes. Nope. Empty but a few bobbers and swimmers. YAY!

Once again I came with a specific swim plan, that really  helps me stay focused and not wander off into a junk yards workout. WU=800 with every 4th 25y as IM in IM order. MS=3x400 as swim-pull-swim at 70-80%. CD=8x50 total recovery. I picked the first lane and set to it. Little did I know that the choice would change my day!

At first I was alone, alternating between backstroke and breaststroke for the IM lengths. I laughed to think that just weeks ago my entire workout was only 800y, and that last year around this time my warmups were always 800+. With each 100, I'd focus on something new--stretching the stroke from finger to toe; pressing the box; head down; butt up. With that done, off to the 400's which would be my longest intervals so far this training season. Last week it was 200's. The first swim took 8 mins on the nose, maybe 8:01 or 8:02. WOW, I'm so happy to see this because when I started swimming just a few weeks ago I was doing 1:05-1:10 laps!

Now pulling. I rotate better with the pull buoy and get a better grab on the water, so I focused on that feeling with the goal of bringing it into the 3rd set. Buzzin along, and somewhere around the 6th lap I hear a voice at the shallow end. But just a voice. I don't stop, just flip n go. Again at the shallow end I hear a voice, and my lane partner is still stopped. Is he talking to someone maybe? Because when you want a swimmer's attention you throw a kickboard at them. Kidding, you just put it on the wall to flag their attention. None of that so I keep going, but plan to peek at the deck on my next turn. Deep end, tumble turn, peeking up and I hear a voice right over me--HIC--water right into the mouth as I react. Indeed someone was trying to flag me to signal a circle swim. Damn that was rude of me!! I'm happy to share, so we take off circling. I miss timing this interval with the disruption. Oh well. No biggie.

Soon enough the 2nd swimmer left leaving just me and the newer swimmer to split the lane. We agree, I offer her the selection of sides, and she picks the inner lane side leaving me with the wall. Nuts. The wall is hard to swim along. The wave mechanics along the wall, the water jets, and the rough texture all make for an annoying swim. It's a challenge! Time for my 3rd interval.

Buzzin along again, on the 2nd lap push-off I get a mouth full of water off the wall. I start to come up for a cough, then remind myself to ignore it and push on. I have learned to cough underwater. Buzzin along, getting oh so tired and sloppy, but interested in repeating the 8 min time. But it's not to be, again the lifeguard flagged me at the shallow end saying he needed my side of the lane for a young swimmer to finish her deep water test: shallow end to deep with no wall or floor. She's 7-someodd years old! Talk about buzzin--she Buzzed to the deep end, head above water the whole time, but a solid effort. As she walked by us smiling, I started applauding her and was joined by others in the pool.

Then another swimmer needed to finish her test. While this went on, I started talking to my lane partner. Turns out she did her first triathlon a few weeks ago at an indoor YMCA tri--on her 72nd birthday!!! She's training for LSL sprint in August--her first OWS!! Her goal next year is LSL olympic and soon after a half iron!! OMG AMAZING!!! She was worried about being too old or too slow, worried about learning to ride  her bike, but I'm so excited for her!! (Can't you tell by all the exclamation points?!).

What a day--new triathlete with a new wetsuit, new swimmers completing their test, and a new triathlete entering the sport late in life. Inspiring day, I couldn't stop smiling. Damn I love days like this :)