Swimming

I've actually had people ask why I have "biking running and swimming" and the blog has had a complete lack of running/swimming posts.

Well, that changes today.

So, my boss (and his boss) are both triathaletes. I've got cycling buddies who are triathaletes. Most of the guys at the LBS are triathaletes. And of course, triathaletes get to buy more cool toys. So, I signed up.

I signed up for a Triathalon July 20, 2008. You may have noticed that date came and passed with no tri completed. See, there are a lot of reasons for that. The diabetes flare up over the winter, putting on weight, losing motivation, playing too much video games... they all contributed. When the cycling season rolled around I used the extra money I had to get Kari into cycling and a trip across the country for a race (and it's not like I would have even been competitive) didn't make sense. So I skipped it.

Two weeks ago I decided to start swimming again. The first day saw 6 or 8 laps in the pool... maybe 9. It wasn't many. Awhile ago I found (and put on my wall) a swimming routine called Zero to 1650 in Six Weeks. The training plan is built on the theory (like all good plans) that you have to stretch yourself-- put yourself in a bit of pain-- to force your body to adapt and grow stronger.

Today marked the first day of week 2 and I did 250 yards without stopping (and felt great... I could have done more) and then completed the whole workout (900 yards, or about half a mile). Thanks to a pretty good aerobic fitness level (all the cycling) my heart rate recovers greatly every rest break.

I want to make sure to have swimming (and some other exercise habits) fully ingrained so that the end of the cycling season doesn't signal the end of fitness-- I've got some very important reasons to get in shape and take the weight off and I don't want to wait until spring to start again. More to come....