We Bought It

By Wednesday I was starting to feel a little more like myself. Basically, all I have wanted to do since the Challenge is sleep. But Wednesday afternoon I did a 7.3 mile run with two tempo intervals and Thursday it was back to Masters where I swam

900 warm up and then the main set was
200 pull
2 X 150 as 50 easy/100 hard
4 X 20 kick with Zoomers
and then repeat main set with the 150s as 50 hard/50 easy/50 hard
300 easy cool down
Total: 3,200 meters.

Friday I drove to Twin Rivers only to see that "Adult Swim" was taken over by a busload of kids. Dang it. I drove away dry and went home for a 3.28 mile run and some more serious napping.

Saturday I did four workouts, and I think that's a record. I went back to Twin Rivers and no kids were in sight. However, I only swam 1,300 meters at a leisurely pace. I'm still in recovery mode. Later, around mid-day, I did an easy 21:00 minute bike trainer ride, then mid afternoon I went out for an 8.12 multi paced run. The temps were only in the mid-eighties and though warm, certainly better than normal. After another nap with Luvie, I went outside late in the afternoon for some weightlifting.

At Masters Thursday night, I could tell that my muscles, especially my deltoids are not recovered from the long swim. Looking back, the first Challenge taught me that I need to work and my wrist and upper back muscles. I spent a year lifting weights targeting those areas, and it seems that I solved the problems revealed in the 13.94 mile swim a year ago. Now it looks like my deltoids will get a lot of attention over the next twelve months as I seek to spend from now till then preparing for the next Challenge. One of my goals is to complete the swim with as little suffering as possible Once, a coworker of mine suggested that I had a pain-wish and that was my motivation for all the endurance stuff I do. Actually it is just the opposite. One of the things that drives me is that delicious euphoria that comes when I am hours into a run or swim or bike ride and feel like I can do it forever. That wonderful zone never lasts, of course, but I always train with the idea of extending that pleasure period as far as possible.

The day after the Challenge, my son asked me what was the distance goal for next year. I told him I couldn't even think about it yet. It was like eating a huge meal and being stuffed to the point of pain and then someone setting a big plate of food in front of you. It was just not the right time. But now, just a little over a week after, I am starting to think and scheme and plan. I found out after the fact that the crew was already talking about next year while we were out on the lake. That made me feel good because while I was in the water I did wonder a few times if this would be their last rodeo. Hey, it's not only a long, hard day for me, I can't even imagine spending ten hours in a kayak. But they are still down for another round. Great.

Robin told Forrest that she was going to pursue renting a pontoon boat from a friend for next year's Challenge. We could have one kayak and the crew could swap out so they could be more comfortable and the safety level would be raised even higher. That is a great idea and one that I had thought of last summer when I drove to Ross Barnett one day on a scouting mission. One can rent pontoon boats on the Rez, as they refer to it, so I explored the idea of doing the swim there. Several things, however, conspired to kill that notion. The distances didn't work out, the logistics were more complicated, and the local alligators didn't embrace the plan. I have a freind who had two frightening encounters with an gator right there at Old Trace Park where I wanted to start the swim. So I dropped that idea, and we went back to Chicot.

My wife and I have mentioned buying a pontoon boat several times in the past, and Robin's comments started the conversation anew. Then when Forrest told us of a friend who had one for sale at a price we could afford, we drove over for a look. We bought it. She's going to need some work, but the possibilities are endless. Next year the Chicot Challenge will be bigger and better and yes, longer. Yehaaa!

For the week I
swam 6,700 meters
walked 4.67 miles
spent 41:00 minutes on the bike trainer
ran 28.14 miles
and lifted weights two times.

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