Double Dip

The week has been lovely, my mood upbeat, and the swimming good. The weather is beginning to break off a little warmer than this time last year, which was a nightmare that still haunts me. We may have some nightmares yet, but this week has been glorious.

I got my first double-dip of the year, and it was really an enjoyable experience. I went back to the fish farm in the afternoon, to the one I used to call the Pond of Perpetual Pumpitude. I now know it is officially labeled D 6. I swam Coleman 1 a couple of times recently, a large pond near Schlater, MS that sits on the banks of the Quiver River. I like it over there and the pond measures .78 per lap in the water. Randy and I always like swimming the big ponds. But it has a lot of fish, and I really get nervous now when I get bumped a lot.

I even swam one of my old favorites, J 7, a while back, but I got hit by fish there also. A lot. I walked down the levee road of the J ponds and saw huge dead fish in all of them. One day I even asked one of the workers about big ponds with small fish, Arthur Burt, whom I stopped as he patrolled the levee roads. He sent me to the B ponds where I tested two in one afternoon. One is a reject, but the other I may revisit. Thursday, however, I went back the D 6 where there are no weeds on the bank and the pond is so recently stocked that I have never even been touched in it, not once. It's like swimming in a pool. Nice.

That afternoon was sunny and sunny all day. Ducks were everywhere and even the gumbo dirt of the levee felt good under my bare feet. I do believe this was the first day of full sunshine we have had all year. We've had some sun, half a day once or twice. But the sky was clear all night and all day. Also, technically this was the first day of spring and the weather played along with the high actually exceeding the prediction. I think it topped out at 69, and the water was 63 when I got there and 66 when I climbed out one hour and twenty-two minutes after getting in. As I swam I could see waterfowl circling overhead, wanting to relight upon the pond but apparently thinking I was some sort of large crocodile or other predator. The water flet good even though I was clad in neoprene. Soon, I can lose that and be at one with the aqua vita, I thought.

I didn't try to swim hard, knowing I would be going to Masters that evening. I just cruised along and feeling strong and comfortable in the water. When I stopped, I climbed onto the levee refreshed and eager to drive to Cleveland, MS for my second swim. I did 2.92 miles for 4,698.28 meters.

At DSU I warmed up a little ahead of the other guys which included Ricky Smith, Mark Blackwood, and Duke Morgan. I swam

1,400
10 X 50 @ 1:30 1st 25 fast
8 X 50 @ 1:30 2nd 25 fast
100 easy
6 X 50 @ 1:30 1st 25 fast
100 easy
4 X 50 @ 1:30 2nd 25 fast
600 pull with small paddles
Total: 3,600 LCM.

I decided to end there since this was my biggest training day of the year. Better safe than sorry. Part of me wanted to keep pushing because I never know what the weather is going to do. But I decided the 8,298.35 meters was enough to produce a training effect, to put a little endurance into my muscles. You can't get it all in one swim.

I went home and slept like I was a world champion snoozer. Life is good, except I am sitting in an empty classroom on a Friday because our brilliant leaders cancelled school on days when I would have allowed my mom on the street walking on her walker. I swear, administrators think we, teachers, are stupid. I suppose they think, why else would they be teaching if they weren't mentally challenged? Some things you just can't fix.