Sunday Summary on Thursday

My typical Sunday Summary is way late due to the holidays and everything associated with them. It has been nice to be off work and spend time with family. It has not been nice to gain so much weight. I really was thinking I had been temperate in my eating and intemperate in my exercise, but the scales do not agree with my perception. I finished the week before Christmas with

Run- 20.37
Walk- 3.26
Bike Trainer- 138.5 minutes
Swim- 10,347 meters with one cold water (57) swim.
Weight on Sunday morning = 163.6 (scream!!!)

That wasn't enough to stave off body expansion. It seems that now I don't even have to eat the food; just being in the same house with it is enough.

So far this week, I haven't swum. Tuesday Masters was cancelled for Christmas and Randy, my only open water swimming buddy and cold water wanna-be, has had the flu. To make matters worse, it is now very cold here in the Magnolia State. Even to think about swimming outdoors causes me bodily pain. I know, I know, but remember I am the one who calls himself a cold-water-sissy. I haven't received a reading on the ponds today, but my guess is low forties or colder. My all-time record is 54, and right now that sounds outrageous.

One thing I have been doing differently is riding the bike trainer and then running. In 2010, I did thirty rides of 100 or more miles. Last year, I  scarcely touched my bike. I hope for the upcoming year to be somewhere in the middle of 2010 and 2011. A while back, I purchased a collection of twenty Alfred Hitchcock movies. I'm thinking that if I can watch all those films while pedalling my Trek in my little man-cave, I may be able to contend with Randy Beets at the Heart O' Dixie Triathlon next year. Last year, he defeated me easily as did most of the fat ladies. I'm tired of getting beat by fat ladies. Really, several of them passed me on the run going up a hill. That hurt.

Another change for next year involves more running. That has been a goal for the last several years. For four years in a row, my running has been compromised by Achilles heel issues. Just recently I had a mild flareup. It seems the main thing that causes me problems is to try to run fast. By fast (blush here) I now mean anything approaching eight minutes per mile (sigh).

Recently I reviewed my training diary for 2012. I was thirty-four weeks into the year before I was able to pull off the first twenty-mile week. How I ran as well as I did is astounding when I check the numbers. I manged to place in two of the few events I entered. For me, twenty-miles per week has always been the tipping point. Good running, begins with that modicum of training volume. Twenty-five is better than twenty and thirty is better than twenty-five. But at twenty miles per seek and no speed work, I have always been able to beat the fat ladies. This week I am working on my eighth consecutive twenty-mile week (whu hoo!!!), but it has been primarily old man shuffling. Still, old man shuffling is better than sitting at home dreaming about back in the day.

So far this week, I have done trainer rides/runs three straight days. From now on, I will refer to these workouts as Trans. Today I plan another Tran and tonight we have Masters swim. It's about time.

Bad Man, Bad, Bad Man

If anybody out there is able to view my blog, I wish you would let me know. You can contact me through Facebook. I just received notification that several of my blog posts are under review for violating policy and are visible only to me. WHAT?!?! WHAT?!?!?!

All I write about is swimming and running and occasionally I mention my cat. Violating policy?!?!? Are you kidding me?? I can't even talk to anyone to find out what the problem is. I've read the policy and I don't violate it in any fashion so what the heck????

I am not a happy camper.

Consequently, EndangeredSwimmer may soon disappear if I can find a new venue. I really need to hear from you, the reader, to know if you can even view this blog. I have access to stats that allege the blog is being seen by someone, but now I'm not sure anything concerning Google blogs is on the up and up. Heck, one month I had 149 page views from Russia. Really?

Uncle Teddy Bear

I suppose I am writing only for me any way. Here is something new that no doubt violates policy. My Uncle Teddy Bear died and we buried him today. He was a sweet man who touched my life with his kindness, gentleness, and love of flowers. Tomorrow we bury my Aunt Pearl. She was aptly named.

Monday morning I did 24 minutes on the bike trainer and then shuffled three-miles. In the afternoon, I went to the pond with my eighty-four year old dad and his dog. I swam 1.29 miles while Dad and his dog chased birds around the pond levee. The water was 57 degrees.

Tuesday I ran 7.46 and walked .67 miles. At masters, I swam

1,400
200 back kick/swim with fins
8 X 150 @ 2:30 as 50 kick/100 swim with fins
50 easy
4 X 300 pull with paddles @ 5:30, decline 1-4
   1- 4:17
   2- 4:13
   3- 4:07
   4- 3:58
50 easy
8 X 75 breathing odd 3, 5, 3 by 25s; even 5, 3, 5 by 25s
200 easy
Total: 4,850 yards = 4,432.9 meters.

Wednesday Dad and my brother-in-law, RT, traveled to Louisville, MS to attend Uncle Teddy Bear's funeral. It is sad to see him go. I did a 29 minute trainer ride and shuffled 1.52 miles when I got home. Then I went online and found out what a bad man I am, an evil man. Heck, I write about taking naps with cats, about immersing my loins (THAT'S IT!!) in cold water, about running and weightlifting. I write about hugging my grandchildren, about swimming in catfish ponds and raising money for the American Diabetes Association. I see it all clearly now: I am a bad, bad man.

Sunday Summary

The water was almost a stranger to me last week as I only got in twice and not a single time outdoors. It was rainy and cold most days, and I just couldn't muster the courage to go out alone and wade into painful liquid. Sunday was nice, and Randy and I have been swimming sabbath afternoons. But he was ill so basically I spent time with my wife and cat and later watched some football with my dad.

Friday I managed to fritter away most of the day after drinking two quarts of coffee and doing a short trainer ride. Saturday I went out Money Road for a long (for me) shuffle/hike. I ran 9.57 and walked 5.54 miles. It was a good food day also, so I was a bit distressed, when I stepped on the scales Monday morning, to find I had gained weight.

For the week, I

ran 28.29 (the most this year) miles
walked 9.66 miles
lifted weights once
swam 5,803 meters
spent 44 minutes on the bike trainer

The air temps are supposed to be up this week, and we should have some sunshine so I hope to swim outdoors some. Also I need to do some big time weight sessions and keep the running mileage climbing.

Right now, I am torn between doing wild running the next six days, and sticking with my program. By wildrunning, I mean, exploring (going to Carroll County), running by feel, having no plan other than to pursue pleasure. That is always the fence I sit on, and a Garmin watch makes that kind of running possible while still keeping meticulous records. The other side of the fence is the scheduled runs I have that include multi-paced efforts that build on the week before. As of now, I do not know which side will win out.

Don't touch that dial. Stay tuned and find out who won, my wild side or my structured side.

Off Work

Being off work has been nice as I get to sleep late, spend time with the cat and dog, and train at my leisure. Monday I did a short trainer ride and a three-mile run. Tuesday was my usual multi-paced semi-long run. Long, being a relative term, at the moment for me is anything five-miles or more. My total was 7.22, and my recovery intervals were faster and more consistent than last week. At masters, Anna from the Greenville triathlon community, showed up at my invitation. Margaret was more than happy as she is usually the only woman there. Waiting on Anna so I could show her  how to get in the building and where to swim, caused me to get in the water a little later than usual so I didn't get as much warm up as normal. I managed

700
400 breathing 3, 5, 7 per 25
300 pull
200 kick no fins
100 50 swim/50 back
3 X 75 4 times through as 1 easy, 2 build, 3 hard
400 pull with buoy between ankles (ouch)
Total: 2,700 yards = 2,467.8 meters.

Anna left early as she hadn't been in the water since the Y in Greenville closed their pool for the season. I made a point to talk with her over the phone, and she seemed genuinely excited to be back in the water and eager to regain some swimming fitness. She left because she said, "My legs and arms were like spaghetti."

Wednesday I took an easy 4.13-mile shuffle followed by upper body weightlifting, and a little bit of plyometric work which consisted of box jumps and tire flips.

Thursday was 4.35 shuffling and some leg work. At the pool (Anna didn't show up), I swam

1,100
500 back/swim with fins
12 X 25 as hard/easy
12 X 50 as 25/hard/25 easy, 25 easy/25 hard, 50 hard all 4 times through
12 X 75 as breathing 3, 5, 3/5, 3, 5 by 25s
250 easy
Total: 3,650 yards = 3,336.1 meters.

Margaret has been beating me on all this short stuff, and I am not happy with that. She is swimming a lot, and my swim training is down right now. I had hoped to drive over today and swim, but DSU has a meet going on so that is out. I am contemplating the pond as an alternative. The water is somewhere in the mid to low 50s so I am having some motivational problems there. I may just get the wetsuit out and have at it.

I've been checking my e-mail for a note from the T-shirt girl. When I talked to her, I realized after I left that I made a terrible error. When she asked me when I wanted it, I said there was no big hurry. Those words just sort of jumped out of my mouth. From past experience, I know that you never tell anyone that. Really there is no big hurry since the Chicot Challenge is not until June. But still I want to get as much done as early as possible. It has been going on three weeks since I talked with her, and I have heard nothing, and I will hear nothing until I call a few times. I could have waited a couple of months and said I need it right away and gotten this done quicker. But now that the words "There is not big hurry" have exited my mouth, I may actually never get my T-shirts. Been there, done that.

Sunday Summary

I went to Horne's Landing (Roebuck Lake in Itta Bena, MS) Friday and took a temp reading before jumping in. It was 62 degrees and amazingly that doesn't feel too cold anymore. Mind you, it doesn't feel warm, but it is very doable. I did put my shirt on because I was alone, and I had to jump in off Anita Horne's deck rather than wade in as I do at the pond. The initial shock wasn't that bad, but I only swam .87 miles in 26 minutes. I should have gone longer, but again. I was alone, and I never really relax when I'm in Roebuck.

Alligators are always in the back of my mind when I'm in that lake except for the when they are in the front of my mind which is almost all the time. I know the risks are very low, and I wouldn't do it if they weren't. But I still think about them. I read somewhere that alligators don't feed this time of year. But if that is really true, I know not. I do know that Roebuck just looks like alligators and every time I ever asked Anita Horne about them in Roebuck, she never would say anything. You've heard the phrase, "Deafening silence"?

Saturday I did a slow start day and after I drank the coffee pot dry, I took a run/walk out Money Road. I finished with 8.22 miles of shuffling and 4.45 miles of walking. Later in the afternoon I lifted some weights. My wife and I then attended a party at our son's house. It was nice, and he told me about his desire to run twenty-seven miles on his twenty-seventh birthday which is coming up in January. I told him I wanted in on that, and immediately I began to scheme out routes.

Once again, Randy wanted to swim so we met at the pond on Sunday afternoon. The water was 66. Wow! Amazingly, it was still difficult to wade in but the initial shock when we started swimming wasn't too bad. I warmed up quicker but never got that toasty warm feeling I get when the water is really cold. I remember in the Swim the Suck it was the same way: always cool. The water temp there is 70-74. I suppose when the water gets really cold, maybe the body shunts more blood out of the extremities. I'm not sure because all of this cold water stuff is still pretty new to me.

For the week, I

ran 26.56 and walked 6.68 miles,
lifted weights once,
spent twenty-minutes on my bike trainer,
and swam 12,480 meters, three times outdoors.

For the year, I have run 666 and swum 531miles.

I am off work for a few weeks and plan to spend some quality time with my cat and my wife's dog and train like a madman. Life is good.

Semester Over

The semester is over, and I am as happy as a dead pig in the sunshine. Now I hope to swim, run, lift weights, hangout with my cat, and bike till I just can't take it any more. Probably I should do some repairs around the house also. Maybe I can earn some goodwill points for the spring.

Since it was so warm Monday, I went to the pond. Last time I was there, I left my thermometer so I didn't get a reading. David picked it up for me, but I haven't met up with him to get it back. Anyway, he told me the ponds were averaging about 60 degrees. Being alone, I put my shirt on and swam 1.05 miles and then ran 3.01.

Tuesday I did a 7.01 multi-paced run and then went to masters and swam

1,150
4 X 200 breathing 3, 5, 5, 3 by 50s; :20 rest
4 X 50 kick with fins @ 1:10
4 X 200 breathing 3, 5, 7, 3; :20 rest
4 X 50 kick with fins @ 1:00
4 X 200 with fins breathing 3, 5, 7, 9 not by 50s but repeat
100 back
Total: 4, 50 yards = 3,701.7 meters.

Wednesday was a stressful day at school. I took a couple of hours off in the afternoon before returning that night. I didn't want to run; I needed to run. I did an easy 4.12 miles and six box jumps.
Thursday I ran another 4.2 miles, hugged my grandchildren, and swam

1,500
400 back with fins
4 X 150 with paddles declining by 50s; :20 rest
50 back kick with fins
600 breathing 3, 5, 7, and 9 by 25s on (1, 3, and 5) choice on 2, 4, and 6
50 back kick with fins
4 X 100 decline by 25s; :20 rest
50 back kick with fins
400 breathing 3, 5, 7, and 9 by 25s on 1 and 3, choice on 2 and 4; :20 rest
50 back kick with fins
4 X 50 decline @ 1:30 (:41, :39, :37, :34)
200 easy
Total: 4,400 yards = 4,021.6 meters.

The Mad Swimming Scientist is as mad as ever. I really do not like the breathing swims when we go all the way to nine strokes without a breath. Tuesday night, I felt like I was going to pass out. One reason to have a coach is to have someone make you do things you will not do on your own. I will never do nine strokes without a breath on my own, and I always know where Cagri is on deck when we do that at practice. Wink, wink.

Sunday Swim and Summary

A few weeks back, I set a personal record by swimming in 54 degree water. I was wearing a wetsuit. Randy wanted to swim this weekend and since I was out of pocket Saturday, I suggested we try it Sunday. We met at the pond a little after 2:00 in the afternoon and promptly took a temperature reading : 54 degrees.

I asked Randy if he had a wetsuit. Since he didn't bring one, we waded in with only a jammer on and two swim caps. Mercy, it hurt, but we got started. I didn't think I would ever get comfortable, but eventually I did. When we got down to the other end of the pond, we and the water were both noticeably warmer. We then swam across to the other side and up the far levee a bit before turning around and swimming back. For a while, I felt like I belonged in the water, like this cold water was nothing. It's a wonderful feeling but a fleeting illusion.

When we got back to the truck and climbed out, we were cold but not out of control. Our condition, however. degenerated and we got colder not warmer despite the fact that the air temp was 75. That seems to be how it works. We got in the truck and drove around a while with the heater doing its best. My Garmin said we swam .92 miles and were in the water 32:58. Not too bad I guess, for a cold-water-sissy.

For the week, I executed a drop  down in running/walking mileage. The goal right now is to finish the year healthy. This week I

ran 20.14 and
walked 2.85 miles,
swam 8,700.88 meters, and
lifted weights several times.
Also, Saturday I did a monster leg workout session.

My totals for the year are 639.7 miles running and 523.68 miles swimming.