Air Temperature 49 degrees
Water Temperature 57 degrees
A 30 minute dip in the lap pond today is on the schedule followed by a short 2000m warm up swim in the indoor Olympic sized lap pool. I head over to the lap pond, the skies are ominous, dark clouds surround the pond and it is raining. I park the car, no mini today so no heated seats, I am driving the suburban, cloth seats and a lazy heater, rats!
I tip Turtle into the pond for an early morning dip, he looks scared to say the least, I pull him out early, 58 degrees he tells me, I drop him back in for a another 60 seconds, 57 degrees he declares with a look on his face that says " deal with it lady, get in and swim", I do, it is cold, even the " I am in a warm blanket, I am in a warm blanket" mantra does not help, one lap goes by, I am planning 10 laps today to make a 2000 yard swim but I am feeling cold, my body feels unfamiliar, my control is slipping, I talk to myself " get a grip and relax you will be OK, there is the shore right over there, you can see it when you breath", this registers in my brain, I can see the shore and I will be OK, I swim on and an amazing thing happens, I relax and it is OK, before I know it I am at lap 10, I stop short of the edge of the pond and bob above the surface and below, letting my body and mind relax and let go of any fear, remember this I tell my primitive brain, I survived this swim and feel OK, don't be anxious next time. I stroke to the side of the pond to exit the water and see if my land legs still work, they are wobbly but do manage to navigate me to the suburban, I struggle to get my clothes on then into the car, " darn you cloth seats without a heater" I mutter under my breath, then it is off to the indoor pool, a few minutes drive and I am there, my teeth are chattering and my lips are numb, that is weird I haven't felt this in the lips before, I don't know what a Botox injection feels like but imagine it might be similar to how my lips feel right now, over sized, puffy and frozen, I make a bee line for the pool, I am standing on the pool deck fiddling with my cap and goggles, Cara is coaching the masters practice today, she know me so well, " get in and swim, 75s " she says, I do it, then it is on to a broken 1500m set, after 500 meters I start to feel blood rush back to my extremities, first to my hands, then to my feet, WOW it hurts today, my feet throb as they begin to warm up, a sweet reminder that today I swam in the coldest water yet, 57 degrees for 30 minutes, I am pleased.
Later in the day I am scheduled for my weekly run up the Pinnacle, it is a really pretty scenic hike that I like to run up as fast as I can and then hike down, I am scheduled to go with my Pinnacle buddy Margaret, she is recovering from racing a half marathon this past weekend so we both know we are in for a fun recovery run up the pinnacle today, enough to raise the Heart rate up to 70-75% of it's maximum but not a free for all threshold pace run. We have fun, it is pouring with rain, muddy and as we reach the summit the ground shows signs of the hail settling that has started to pelt us as we summit the top of the trial. On the way down Margaret mentions how fun it would be to see how much food I take in to fuel my body when I am training, I ponder this thought, she is right reading it is one thing seeing it is another. " I don't know if I can fit a whole days worth of food on my dining room table" I announce, we laugh at the thought. So for grins here is a photo of my dinner ( before I ate it!) this does not include my appetizer that I always inhale when I first get home from work.
Have fun peaking. Next up the ocean is calling, back to Rhode Island tomorrow Friday October 7th, I am meeting Ray( who has already made the EC crossing and is booked to go again in 2012) for a Saturday morning training swim, he emailed today that the temperature is 59 degrees, perfect he said!
Will it be, I'll keep you posted.
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| Tonight's refuel: 4 Fillet Mignon steaks, salad, hummus and dressing, sauteed mushrooms, a Laraway bar, a skinny chocolate bar and a York Peppermint Pattie |
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