Just Keep Swimming!!

Welcome to the Spring 2012 semester, aka my last semester of college! As many of you know (I say while wondering if anyone is reading) my schedule is pretty relaxed this semester, especially compared to some of the crazy semester in the past. This relaxation includes taking yoga and advanced swimming  which serve Operation Sexy Dress very well, more on that later.

Unfortunately, my yoga instructor is a little misguided so that won't be terribly beneficial but swimming is awesome! I have some exciting swimming goals and I will outline some pretty awesome adventure plans.

In swimming today we did the Swim Cooper Test, which is a fitness test originally designed for runners. The goal is to swim continuously for 12 minutes then use the distance you swim as a measurement of your cardiovascular/swim fitness.

FITNESS LEVEL SWIM-COOPER-TEST
AGEGROUP M/F		7-9 years		10-12 years		13-19 years		20-29 years
FITNESS CATEGORY		METERS	NO. LANES (25 M.)	METERS	NO. LANES (25 M.)	METERS	NO. LANES (25 M.)	METERS	NO. LANES (25 M.)
VERY POOR	M	< 200	< 8	< 380	< 15	< 460	< 18	< 380	< 15
	F	< 180	< 7	< 280	< 11	< 380	< 15	< 280	< 11
POOR	M	200-240	8-10	380-460	15-18	460-560	18-22	380-460	15-18
	F	180-220	7-9	280-380	11-15	380-460	15-18	280-380	11-15
MEDIUM	M	240-320	10-13	460-550	18-22	560-660	22-26	460-560	18-22
	F	220-300	9-12	380-460	15-18	460-560	18-22	380-460	15-18
GOOD	M	320-460	13-18	550-620	22-25	660-760	26-30	560-660	22-26
	F	300-420	12-17	460-560	18-22	560-660	22-26	460-560	18-22
VERY GOOD	M	> 460	> 18	> 620	> 25	> 760	> 30	> 660	> 26
	F	> 420	> 17	> 560	> 22	> 660	> 26	> 560	> 22

I started the swim and I planned to swim 100 free, 100 breast, 100 back and just repeat that until time was up. I ended up swimming about 625 yards and felt really good. I hit my stride after the 300 yard wall, for some reason after about 299 yards it is just really tempting to stop. After 325, things are better. According to this test, women my age who swim more the 560 yard are in the very good category.

With all this in mind I have some new swimming goals. I want to swim a mile, continuously. That is 70 lengths of a 25 yard pool. Today I only did 22 lengths in 12 minutes, good place to start but plenty of work to do. Apparently, some (crazy) people aspire to swim a mile in 30 minutes. Right now, I have no time goal, I just want to swim a mile before May 1.

My swim class will help with this goal but I also decided to do the 2012 Iron man Triathlon Challenge through the Texas Tech Rec Center. You have 21 days in February to complete all the Iron man distances: swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles. The swim will not be terribly difficult. In addition to the yards I swim in class I am required to swim 1500 yards outside of class. The bike will be a more of a stretch. I ride around 2 miles per day now and to ride 112 miles in 21 days I would need a little more than 6 miles each day. But indoor spinning counts, so I am going to sign up for the 40 minute afternoon spin on Mondays and Wednesdays. Yes, this means I will go to Italian on those days a little bit sweaty (maybe smelly). That is a fair trade off right?

So swim, easy. Bike, doable. Run... uh oh. That will be hard, thankfully walking counts. I will try to run most of it, and I honestly don't have a more developed plan than that. To run 26.4 miles in 21 days I would need to run 1.5 miles each day. Not an unmanageable amount, but in combination with everything else... yikes. I will make a plan, and do my best! I am kinda pumped. Anyone want to be an Iron man (over 21 days) with me?

Oh, and Operation Sexy Dress is pretty simple. I get to wear a pretty awesome dress on May 26th and I plan to rock it.

Dash and Splash

4 miles running, 400 yards swimming. I have been nervous about it all week because I was completely unprepared. I have never ran four continuous miles before and I have never practiced swimming after running. So here is the story:

We woke up around 4:45 so I could take Becca to the airport. She has been visiting since Tuesday and we had a great week catching up. I got back from the airport around 5:50, ate breakfast, made some muffins for later and got everything ready.

Tori and I left the house at 6:35. I was anxious but not rushed, I had a good breakfast and was feeling pretty good. I dropped Tori off at Mia's house and took a relaxed bike ride to the rec. It was a really nice morning and the bike ride was a good warm up. I got to the rec, parked my bike and checked in. A girl from the fit-well staff wrote the number 45 on my arm and I went to set up my transition area. I chatted with a few competitors as they were coming in, then we all headed over to the pre-race meeting.

As I was looking around I noticed some major differences between this Dash and Splash and the 5K I ran at the beginning of summer. There were no power walkers, no strollers being pushed, uh oh these people are serious. As I noticed this and was starting to get a little nervous, it was time to go. And go we did, the pace was FAST. Everyone took off and the main group was out of sight within six minutes. I was focusing on not getting too excited and running faster than I could maintain. During my training runs I would run for six minutes and and walk for two or three. Today I ran for 13 minutes before I took a break and then I walked for a 1.5 minutes. My left calf and ankle get very sore when I run from the blood clot I had when I was pregnant. The pain creeps in when I rest, so I was determined to never rest long enough to let that pain get too bad. Throughout the 40 minutes it took for me to finish the 4 miles I walked about five times each for two minutes or less.

I got to the two-mile point feeling great! I got there in 16:30 and I was really proud of that. I kept running and was really doing well until about the 22 minute mark. My right foot went completely numb, below the knee all I could feel was pins and needles. It was very strange and, believe me, it is difficult to run with an appendage you can't feel.

I ran through the numbness and thankfully it went away after about eight minutes. Around the 33 minute mark I hit a giant ugly wall, it was right around the 3.5 mile point and I was tired! I wanted to walk, I wanted some water and I wanted to sit the heck down. I pushed through, and made it to the finish. I wasn't in a terrible hurry in the transition area, and I was confused and went the wrong way trying to find the pool. I jumped into the water around 44 minutes and all was right in the world.

I started swimming and it felt so, so amazing! I know how things work in the water, I know what I can do and I know how it will feel. I swam the first 100 yards freestyle and the rest breaststroke, it made breathing easier and I didn't lose too much speed. I had the pleasure of passing a couple people in the water and finished my 400 yards feeling pretty accomplished. I got out the water and my time was 55:10. I finished, and I wasn't even last. If it had just been the run I would have hated it, but the swim made it so fun. I really enjoyed it, and will be having similar adventures soon. We are working on the logistics for a sprint triathlon this weekend.

Dunte I stretched and relaxed in the hot tub then rode back to Mia's to pick up Tori. I took an awesome nap and then made myself a feast. When I woke up I felt... hungover. My brain wasn't working, cooking took twice as long as it should have because I was so groggy. I didn't realize until after I ate that my shirt had been on backwards for an hour. I think my brain was just making sure I knew how hard my body worked that morning.

I learned that four miles is a long way. I was reminded how much I love to swim. I was also reminded how intoxicating competition can be.

For a more athletic perspective from the winner of the men's 18-24 age group, keep an eye on Dunte's blog.