What It Takes to Train for 10 Miles

I've spent the last few weeks building my mileage in the pool! During the middle week in March, I did four workouts: three at 3000 yards and then THE 6000. I did the first 3000  with  the YDubTriClub  and the other two at night at the YWCA.  These swims take me about 50 minutes.  I end up doing 6 x 500's just to break it up.  I swim freestyle the first 500, then use a buoy and paddles for the next 500, and then use fins for the third 500.  I repeat that for a total of 6 x 500's or a full 3000.  The fourth swim of the week:  THE 6000.  The first time I attempted that, I overheated in the pool due to a heater malfunction.  This week, I accomplished this with excitement!  There was a lifeguarding tryout for ocean rescue while I was swimming this distance, and it gave me a lot of entertainment.  I was so glad to have a full pool while doing all those laps - it made swimming a straight line back and forth not so lonely.  I didn't feel too bad afterward, either! 

During the week of March 21st - 27th, I only got in 3 x 3000 yards!  The swims + life [so much going on right now] = weakened immune system and an upper respiratory congestion! It was not a happy week of swimming, but I was glad for the lower distance than the week before.  My head was so clogged with congestion that I felt like I was swimming night and day! That is a nightmare: having a runny nose waking me up through the night, ears plugged up so badly sounds were like sounds you'd hear in a cave, and blowing my nose constantly during the day - it felt like I never got out of a pool all week.  I tried to rest as best I could, even taking a day off work.  I am on the mend and have started back to training well again.  

My third 3000 yard workout last week  immediately followed a photo shoot for the Star News. I don't care who you are - supermodel or not - there is a certain panic and anxiety created when a woman knows she's being photographed in her swimsuit!  I had to stand in the intracoastal waterway while a photographer took several photos.  He told me to look natural and relaxed..........how natural and relaxed can you be when you're staring down the barrel of a telephoto lens in a swim suit in 45 degree weather?! Especially when all you can think is:  make the smile look less like pain, suck in your stomach, drop the shoulders a little, turn the head to the right, stop shaking, please God don't let my headlights show, smile more, cross arms over belly, now hands on hips, smile again and repeat.  I'd rather double my mileage than do THAT again! Stay tuned for the upcoming article from the STAR NEWS!