More hoorah's for swim club

Had a great swim this morning. I really am enjoying the swim club. I know that I've said that one more than one occasion, I just can't help it. I guess I had been swimming on my own for awhile and it's just kind of cool to be hanging out with other people who are working towards the same thing. I also like that I get some stroke correction and the different drills alleviate some of the boredom. There's a real sense of accomplishment to get yourself up and out of the house at 4:45 in the morning and get in a swim and arrive back home before most people are even out of bed. I was quite pleased with myself this morning because I had a midterm exam today at 9:30 and I still went ahead and had my swim. At one time I would have been concerned that it would tire me out too much, both the getting up early as well as the hard swim. I actually found it quite invigorating and it helped with the anxiety level. (I always get all freaked out and worked up before an exam.)

Yesterday I did my scheduled run. The weather was overcast and about half way it started to rain. I was quite slow and my legs felt stiff but I did what I had planned so I guess that's good. Today I did my swim but I'm jamming on my bike, it's absolutely pouring and I could go to a spin class but I actually need to spend a bit more time studying for my second midterm. Ugh.

Other than school, my training and school I haven't done too much socially lately. I need to plan in some fun time because sometimes when I just put my head down and go go go I get lots accomplished but I get down and grumpy because everything is just so serious. I wish I had more friends that were active. I have too many sedentary friends. But even just getting out from time to time to eat good food and have a drink or two or just socialize with someone over the age of 12. I love my kids and I love doing stuff with them but it is nice to just talk about adult stuff sometimes. Ya know.

Attack of the Grumpy-Grumps

I had a very hard training week and by Friday I had a serious case of the grumpy-grumps. Honestly I was irritated with EVERYTHING. When you have 3 kids this is not a good scenario. I'm certain my kids wondered who had taken over Mommy because it took all my willpower to not yell my head off. I even allowed myself to just flop and watch t.v. for most of the evening. I did make something for dinner but it didn't require much more than open, place in oven, serve. I just was so not into making anything more complicated than that.

I did really enjoy my Master's swimming. I find it challenging and interesting and I'm learning a lot right now. Hopefully in the next few weeks my body will be more adjusted to this challenging early morning swim. I like that I have been able to stick to my training plan but I've obviously pushed it slightly more than I'm able to handle. I did get adequate rest and after today (I'm going to do an easy recovery swim today) I have a rest day.

Where are my water wings

I made it through my first week of masters swim club. It's a humbling experience. I felt pretty strong in my swimming and although I knew that I would not be the fastest swimmer there, I find myself in the last lane...the SLOW swimmers lane. I'm not the slowest in that lane, in fact I'm the fastest and I could potentially move to the slightly faster slow lane but then I would definitely be the slowest. Not that it's a big deal but I hate feeling to pressured to keep up so it's better for me to be in the slower lane.

It is definitely a challenge. The practise itself starts a 5:30 and ends at 7. This is at least a half hour longer than I'm used to plus the pace is faster. I like the different drills that we do and the other swimmers have been super friendly and welcoming. Yesterday I caught crap from the coach for not following the intervals properly. (I was trying but I was getting all confused and tired out) although at first he thought I was a swimmer from last year he didn't realize that it was only my second swim with them. I felt a bit sheepish but I can only try to do my best. It seems hard to believe that I will get any faster. I know that may sound a bit weird but I feel like I will be perpetually slower.

I also found that between the early start and the extra swimming this week I was pretty tired by 6 in the evening and a pretty major grump. My shoulders, triceps and biceps are all mildly sore but in a good way. Although on Wed I did my planned run but cut my long bike that day because my shin on my right side seized up. I was hobbling all over campus so instead of a bike I opted for ice, advil and a nap. I think I may be able to bike on Sat instead. The pain had disappeared by the following day so I don't know what was going on with that. I wondered if some of the kick drills may have aggravated something. (I've never done kick drills before.) I'll know if it's truly gone today because I have a brick workout planned.

And a little aside to my training. My daughters daycare is officially on strike as of Monday. Talk about suck. I'm not quite sure what I'll do but next week is a recovery week and I just cross my fingers that the strike won't drag on too long. It will have a huge impact on my school and on my training.

Masters Swim Club Starts

I have a great training week planned and I am looking forward to it even though I know that I will be tired out by the weekend. I plan on a long endurance run today. ( This semester I don't have any classes on Mon.) Tues will be swim and a shorter higher cadence ride, Wed Long endurance bike and a short morning run, thurs morning swim and Fri Brick work out Sat a recovery swim.



The biggest change in this week's routine is that Tues will be my first swim with the Hyack Masters Swim Club. I'm excited and freaked out all at the same time. My biggest fear is that I won't be able to keep up and I'll be in everyone's way. My second fear is that it will be so hard that I'll come home too exhausted and not be interested in going anymore. I'll have to be up very early to be ready on deck for 5:15 ish. Yikes, I'm an early riser but the thought of being up at 4:30 am does sound a bit daunting. 5:00 is pretty standard for me but moving to 4 just sounds stupid early. Nevertheless it still seems interesting to me.



I'm also still getting used to the new bike but it's coming along and I really like riding it. I'm hoping in the next few weeks to purchase new clipless pedals and shoes. This should make a difference to my riding as well, or at least I think it will. The only reason I'm waiting is more of a time issue than anything else. On top of my training I'm really trying to discipline myself to work on my schoolwork daily/nightly. I left way to much to the last minute last semester and it stressed me out WAY too much and I think my marks were lower as a result. When I'm not trying as hard I tend to come in at about a c plus B level but I know that I could do better. It's only been a week but so far so good. I'm feeling much more energetic than I did over the summer so I think that helps too.