Waterblogged

Last night I cut half of my big toenail off from the right side. I was playing touch football with the boys and finally had HAD it with one too many stomps on my flappable stump so I grabbed the toenail clipper and surgically removed the portions that were not attached to skin. This morning I still Scotch taped it down but there was much less resistance in the water, I could tell. Good. That update is over. Today's workout: *warm up: 2 x 250, 2 x 150 free add pull gear for: *50 easy, 100 moderate, 150 hard *75 moderate, 150 hard, 225 hard *100 hard, 200 hard, 300 hard pull option (not for me!): *4 x 200's: build by 50 (1st one with first 50 hard, 2nd with first 100 hard, and so on) *4 x 100's: build by 25

At our house, this means my husband flies off on a plane today to spend what he, his brother and his buddy in Seattle call "The Lost Weekend" holed up in said buddy's sports bar basement watching game after game after game. This year he's in quite a pickle as his two alma maters, Cornell and Stanford, battle in the first round. Oh, pity him and his nice kidless den in Seattle with meatball sandwiches and beers being passed around. I, on the other hand, am at the library eeking out 2 hrs of work while I've got a sitter before I get to spend the rest of Spring Break (aka Kidsathomewithnochildcare Week) entertaining the kiddos. Could be worse. But could be better (for me, not my lucky husband). Go STANFORD! the workout: *200 easy, 3 x 100's harder, 4 x 50's strong *4 x 300's pulling *2 x 400's pulling *600 without pull gear!

First off, yes the tape on my toenail held for practice again today. Okay, now that we're past that update... Bill Dawson found me yesterday morning at Borrone and told me that a bunch of swim folks have been meeting there and compiling a list of books they have read that "have changed the attitude, opinion, or life of the reader". Excellent. I love life-changing books. So, here is Bill's compiled list, and below I've added my own life-changing books (not necesarrily the same as "most fun books to read" of course. Have to do that list soon too). Please add your own list and refer back to this one when you need a good book! (Oh, and the workout today was basically long free and backstroke :). Bennet, Anne and Dick A Town Called Alice, Shute African Genesis, Ardrey Amazon, Walker Atlas Shrugged, Rand Bel Canto, Patchet Collapse, Diamond Complexity, Waldrop Corellis Mandolin, de Berneires Cultural Literacy, Hirsch Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Wel...

I know, I've been SO bad. No blogging for a week. For shame. But, my toenail has been falling off, and while this is no excuse for not typing with my fingers, there it is. It's ripping off sideways, from the right, and though it doesn't hurt while playing soccer (odd), it flaps in the water - a lone stiff flag in a deep blue sky of liquid - and tugs just a little bit against my flesh each time I push off the wall. I've been swimming with my toes crossed for weeks to prevent maximum flappage, and it just isn't cutting it anymore (I launched my foot into a chair this weekend and nearly collapsed in pain as the toenail nearly came clean off). This morning I entered the water with three band-aids wrapped around my toe. They slipped off by the third 125. Luckily, Doctor Lanshin suggested I hop out and wrap Scotch tape around it "like, 1000 times". This worked. It's still working. I am now doing an experiment to see how many days of swimming I can get throug...

Well. The pool was only down in temp this morning and it took me until 5PM and a hot bath to warm up yesterday after swimming in 78 degrees, so this morning of course I had to bail and lap swim in the warm pool. I was warm. But I had to deal with lap swimmers. (Disclaimer: I love all swimmers. I'm not seriously mad at the lap swimmers. But let me go on.) Mid-way into my first 500 of leisurely warmth a dude literally slapped my feet while I was flip turning. I stopped and looked up. "Wanna split!" he declared (not asked), arms akimbo with eyes up to the sky. It was not a question so I just shrugged, kept swimming, and stayed on my side. Then a gal got in and jumped in front of me while (again) I was flip turning and force me to stop. "You have to circle now. There's three of us." Again, not a question, so I nodded and lined up behind her, only to be forced to slow my pace by 78%. She moved to the next lane pretty quickly, and the dude next to me stopped (with...

Okay, I know there are people suffering in the world - no food or clean water and all that - but I SWAM IN 78 DEGREE WATER THIS MORNING PEOPLE. I shivered my way through the short-distance sets (goosebump-inducing even in 81 degree water for me) until finally, at the 55 minute mark I just couldn't take it anymore. The warm pool beckoned. When I jumped in it felt as if I had been wrapped in a heated wool blanket in the center of an Alabama summer and whooooeeee did it feel good. Tim, let's get that temp up by tomorrow, por favor. *warm up: struggle to catch breath in cold water through: 100 free, 50 back to breast repeat 4 times *100 IM build; 50 back to breast; 2 x 25's strong free; 100 recovery repeat 3.25 times. That's right. The IM build starts with 25 fly, 75 free and builds to full IM fast in the .25 spot. *200 strong free; 100 relaxed IM *200 strong free; 75 relaxed IM *200 strong free; 50 relaxed IM *200 strong free; 25 relaxed IM WARM POOL SUBMERSION