Mental Toughness

Sometimes I show up in the morning and I just need a pummeling. With the Giants World Series Win giving me an excuse to sit around and drink red wine and eat chocolate last night, this was one of those mornings. Okay fine. I always want a pummeling. Seriously? If I'm going to pry myself out of a warm bed and jump in a cold pool in the dark before the rest of the town has even thought of getting up, I had better get a good goddamn workout. That's just me. Last week we had a 2 x 1000 set "for mental toughness". I know, I know, most of you think it's boring to go back and forth forty times and keep count of the laps. But not me. Long back and forth action is just what my mental state calls "perfect". Call me simple and escapist but I don't really want to daydream or think about real life. I want to move strain and count. But 25's easy with breathing and body positioning exercises? For me this is a Hell requiring extreme mental toughness to just stay...in...the...pool. And this morning, I couldn't do it. I needed yards. So, I boosted out of the cold water and did repeat 1000's in the warm pool. I'm sorry Rick. You're great but this morning's workout was too far out of the pain zone for me.

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Oxygen Depletion

I hate fins. Why, as a soccer player, I can't kick or use my legs in the pool, I don't know. But I can't kick. I seem to go backwards when no fins are on my feet, and I feel like my lungs are going to explode when I do use fins. Go figure. Today I'm also losing my left big toenail, which is always a fun sensation while finning. *warm up: 300 free, 200 back to breast, 100 kick, 50 strong add fins for: *3 x 50's free on TIGHT interval (35 s) 150 recovery *3 x 100's free on TIGHT interval (1:10) 150 recovery *3 x 150's on TIGHT interval 150 recovery *3 x 200's on TIGHT interval remove fins for: *150 easy *2 x 50's hard repeat 2x

Tell me about yourself...

This is fun. I don't get to swim on Wednesdays so here's some (mostly) non-swimming information about me that I hope you will not use inappropriately against me. It's really fun to answer these questions if only for yourself. Do it. Then post them here because I'd love to know more about all of you! 1.) Q. Can you cook? A. Well, I can read, so I can follow a recipe. Can I make anything without a recipe? Yes: Cinnamon toast. 2.) Q. What was your dream growing up? A. To be happy. 3.) Q. What talent do you wish you had? A. I wish I could sing, big time! 4.) Q. Favorite place? A. California (home) 5.) Q. Favorite vegetable? A. Sweet Potato 6.) Q. What was the last book you read? A. To my kids: The Important Book, to myself: Slow Man 7.) Q. What zodiac sign are you? A. Sagittarius, but I put zero stock in signs 8.) Q. Any tattoo's or piercings? A. Yes, both 9.) Q. Worst habit? A. Never cleaning out my car 10.) Q. If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a

A Mile of Butterfly

No, this is not what we did this morning (thank G-d). But I have to give kudos where kudos are due, to Frances and Peter (and if there was someone else someone please enlighten me) for doing a mile of butterfly at the Rinconada meet on Saturday. Rebecca Pinto likes to call this meet the Rinky Dink Meet but, as I'm sure she would agree, there's nothing dinky about 1650 yards of butterfly. Frances and Peter both completed the event in less than 30 minutes. That's about 4 days and 23.5 hours less than swimming a mile of fly would take me. I'm in awe. Here's what we did this morning: *300 free followed by 2x25 kick *300 free followed by 2x50 quick free ~ All free, all broken in half for 2-5 seconds to check time and try to match split on second half. (Interval for Lane 2, on 1:30 base): *1x400 *2x300 *3x200 *4x100 ~ *3x100 on the 1:35, 1:25, 1:20, trying to match pace for all three *3x100 on the 1:35, 1:25, 1:20, trying to match pace for all three ~ *4x25 fast free with

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