Water Conundrum

Trying to ramp up. I am torn between working on speed and building endurance. Endurance is more fun, but speed impacts the former. In my quest for regaining my old form, I have been working on sets of 100 repeats. Then the weather, which has been unusually hot, became seasonal, and I moved indoors. My last two swims were in what I call the tiny pool. Actually you can build speed and endurance in a short course pool, but I always prefer long course for fun and for endurance. The sun, the reduction of flip turn, and the increase in stroke volume are a few of the reasons I rather swim outdoors in the big pool. The reason for going inside? I am a confessed cold water sissy.

I don't even know what the outdoor pool is running right now, but my guess is the low 80s. That is hardly cold, but I am a sensitive soul who has sensitive skin. I'll avoid that every time if I can. And now I can. One problem with that, however, is that the indoor pool is actually hot now. They were keeping it at 84 which felt cold compared to the outside water. But when I stuck my  toe in last week, the water felt hot. I found the thermometer floating in the pool and checked it. It read a bit over 90. That is a bit warm for doing meaningful repeats.

I was surprised at how much the 90 degree water impacted my swimming. After only a few laps I became lethargic, lazy, and unmotivated. Is that what I will face from now until Chicot? If so, I will have to move back outdoors. Perhaps I will purchase some new wetsuits. I outgrew my shorty, and my full is pretty much worn out. So I think I'll get another shorty and wear it as long as I can take it. Then I plan to upgrade to a sleeveless, and from there go to a full. If I work it, I can develop some cold water ability that will serve me well next spring. The big pool is now open year round. If I can make myself get in everyday, the possibilities are endless. But then there is always the temptation of the tiny pool. It's hard to pass it up when the outdoor temps take a dive like they did last week. 

So the conundrum is not really between endurance and speed, but it's between warm water and cold. If I had a partner who wanted to swim cool, it would help a lot. When I had Randy Beets here, we pushed the cold water envelope all the way down to 50. Now, that is only a distant memory.