Swim class No. 6

They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper lives in a world full of wonder,
Lying there under, under the sea!

OK, so maybe I'm nowhere near the 1960s TV show dolphin, but I sure felt like it for a moment this morning. Or at least enough to make the theme song to the TV show Flipper run through my head. All. Day.

I went to swim class this morning, 15 minutes earlier than usual. Yes, 15 minutes isn't much. But when we're talking about jumping in the pool at 5:15 a.m., that's a lot of extra minutes I could have spent sleeping.

So I jumped in, did my 200 yard warm up. As I put on my pair of fins I looked at the workout sheet:

6x25 w/ fins - dolphin kick under water

Huh? I'm becoming a dolphin this morning? Because I was up so early I thought I was seeing things. I called the coach over.

"What's this about the dolphin kick?"

Yup. Dolphin kicks. Efficient kick to use, especially at the beginning of a triathlon swim, he says.

I watched as he demonstrated while standing on the pool deck. Well, I thought to myself, I've already got my fins on, mind as well try out this dolphin kick and really feel like a sea creature.

So I did. And it was kind of fun and not that difficult. Granted I'm no Michael Phelps when it comes to dolphin kicking, but give me some time.

Only after I finished my 150 yards worth of dolphin kicking did the coach tell me I only had to do it until I came up to the top of the waster the first time. Then I could swim the rest of the length of the pool with a normal freestyle. Me? I'd hit the top of the water, grab some air and head back under for more kicking. I was only following what the folks in front of me were doing. Oh well. It was fun.

So if I felt like a TV star dolphin during the first part of the class, I almost felt like a beached whale during the last 500 yards of the workout when I grabbed the hand paddles and pull buoy - my first experience with either piece of equipment.

Let's just say I didn't feel like I had any control over the bottom half of my body. Towards the end of the swim, maybe the last 100 yards, I felt a little bit more in control, but I think I preferred feeling like flipper.

Running and what are these heavy things called weights?

Another cold, rainy, windy day. Another trip to the YMCA and the treadmill.

Legs felt a little heavy after yesterday's run, but I still wanted to squeeze in 2 or 3 miles. I ended up logging three miles, each mile getting faster.

Mile 1 - 10:45
Mile 2 - 10:21
Mile 3 - 9:27 - was seriously pushing the speed the last half mile or so.

Run felt good. Afterwards I headed over into the land of the weights. An area I haven't stepped foot in in over 6 months. Gulp. But I need to get used to it. So I did some strength exercises and stretches. Some crunches. And then ended my visit to the YMCA with a quick 4-mile cool down on the bike.

Overall, not a bad night. I think I'm going to give myself the day off on Friday. I think I've earned it.

I felt kind of speedy

Haven't had time to sneak in a run all week, but I made a point to head over to the YMCA tonight after work.

Walking from the locker room to the treadmill, I was only planning on pounding out 3 miles. But I got upstairs and there was a treadmill sitting there unused. And it one of the ones that was in a time slot that was already in progress. So I could sign up for the next slot, hop on right away and it would be all mine for 45 minutes.

I uncapped that dry erase marker and penciled in my name.

So my planned 3 miles turned into 4.35 miles. I'm sensing a habit forming. Hmm.

Anyway. I started out slow and gradually worked my way up to a nice pace that I felt comfortable at. And tonight? I even managed to use the splits on my watch. So instead of generalities, I've got numbers for you guys! Aren't you excited?

Mile 1 - Finished in 10:51. Took it nice and slow, included the one minute walking warm up while I untangled my iPod headphones.
Mile 2 - Finished in 10:26. Notched up the speed a little bit. Still felt comfortable.
Mile 3 - Finished in 10:12. Faster yet. Still comfortable.
Mile 4.35 - Yes, unable to hit the split button on my watch at the 4-mile mark. Deal with it. :) Anyway finished the last 1.35 miles in 13:33. I think I had the speed set at 5.9mph until I hit the 3.5 mark, then I upped it to 6mph and upped it again when I hit the 3.75. Did a nice sprint for the next quarter mile, hitting a high of 6.5mph. Hard. But felt good. Finished with a nice cool down for the last 3 minutes and change.

Overall, the run felt good. One of these days I'm going to either have to bundle up and brave the cold temps (seriously it's been like 42 degrees out for the last two weeks) or snag a treadmill for an entire hour. Because I think it's time to try out that 5-mile run pretty soon. And honestly, I'd rather do it outdoors. Maybe this weekend.

Swim Class No. 5

My fifth swim class meant my first session where I did the entire workout that the coach sent out.

The past few weeks I've been doing about half of the workout before the class breaks into two groups - one finishing up the workout and the rest of us who wanted to work on breathing stuff. But yesterday? All workout.

We started out with a nice, easy warm up and then dove right into the drills. During one drill - side swimming, taking three strokes and switching to our other side, it helps with bilateral breathing - I came into the wall and was waiting for the person in front of me to go and Coach Greg (yes, it took me four weeks but I finally remember his name) came up to me, told me it looked good and I should have demonstrated for the group. Umm, thanks. I guess that means what he's been teaching me the last four weeks has caught on.

Anyway, did some more drills and ditched the fins with 800 yards to go. 800 yards that alternated between an easy swim and a fast swim. I pushed myself. I didn't feel super fast, but I felt like there was a difference between my "easy" and my "fast."

I finished the workout off with a trip to the hot tub. Because when the coach orders a 5-minute trip to the hot tub, you don't skip that vital piece. And yes, he really had it included on the workout sheet.

But the hot tub was good. I got to sit in with some other folks in my group who I haven't gotten a chance to really talk to before. We talked triathlons. Mostly Ironmans - there's some folks in my class who are signed up for 2010. Me? I'm just toying with the possibility of an Olympic.

And since I opted for the hot tub, I skipped out on the planned run after class. But I'll get one in tomorrow, especially since I just signed up for the YMCA Freaky 5K on Oct. 24 And I'll need to be ready? Because this 5K? All of the hills on the route may be what makes it freaky.

Gulp.

Painful football made me want to run away. So I did.

Still not convinced Ohio State is a top 10 team.

I spent the afternoon sitting in my recliner, watching the Badgers take on Ohio State. The first half was a good battle and it was close at halftime. The second half? Painful to watch. Especially since Ohio State's offense was sitting on the sidelines while its defense and special teams racked up the points.

And the Badgers? While they were moving the ball, they were having trouble finding the end zone, holding onto the ball in the end zone or kicking the ball through the uprights.

Final score? A 31-13 loss.

And when the clock hit zero, I promptly grabbed my bag and headed over to the YMCA for a run. I would have gone outside, but honestly? Mid-30s and windy was a little too chilly for me today. So the treadmill it was.

I had 45 minutes before the YMCA closed. I started to run, not sure if I was going to go 2 or 3 miles. Heck I even had time for 4 if I wanted. So I ran. First mile was kind of slow. Sped up a bit in the second mile and the treadmill timer was reading 21 minutes, 45 seconds. Not bad, but not good.

My legs still felt good. So I upped the speed and kept going. I hit the 3 mile marker at 32 minutes, 30 seconds. Still was feeling good and still had about 15 minutes before closing time.

So I notched the speed up again and kept running. I don't think the speed ever dipped below 6 miles per hour (a 10-minute mile) during the final mile. And I was feeling good. I liked the faster pace. Finished up 4 miles in 41 minutes, 15 seconds.

Not a great football game, but a good run. I'll take it.

Swim Class No. 4

Week number of my swim class was yesterday. And it's definitely not as intimidating as it was the first week anymore.

We did a warm up, worked on a few drills and broke off into our two separate groups again - training and breathing. I stuck with the breathing group again, just to give myself one more week to work on the bilateral breathing. Since I hadn't been in the pool since last Monday morning, I wasn't sure how it was going to go this week, but the breathing came back pretty easily.

Finished up the breathing work and did an easy 200 yards or so with fins to end the session. Next week I think I'm going to abandon the breathing group, try to work on some regular training stuff.

After the swim class was done, I threw on my running clothes and headed out to the treadmill. Normally I would have snuck a run in after getting done with work, but since I was working the night shift (see It's Monday Night Football, Packers versus Vikings and I'm Working), I thought I'd sneak the run in before heading out to an early morning meeting.

I got on the treadmill and at first I thought I'd only make it 2 miles. My legs felt heavy. And it was hard to run. I guess that's what happens after an hour-long swim class. But after a half mile or so, the legs started feeling like normal and the run got easier.

Soon the treadmill readout told me I had gone 2 miles and I just kept running. Finished up with 3 miles in 31 minutes, 30 seconds.

Then it was home, a quick shower and meeting for work. Followed up by a nice 2.5 hour nap before heading into work. All in a morning's work.

I admit, it's a little odd to see

A sports-related note, but taking a breaking from running, biking and swimming...

For the first time, Brett Favre, the Green Bay Packers quarterback I grew up loving, takes the field tonight, wearing Viking gear and facing off against the team he thrived with for 16 years.

Packers versus Vikings. On Monday Night Football.

And I'm stuck in my office. Working the night shift.

This is just so wrong. But at least I've got a TV within 10 feet of me.

And a bit of advice for the Packers defense? Hit him hard boys.

Reading Recap

Words were read in September and as a result, I'm slowly inching towards that 40-book goal.

I finished three books in September and 748 pages. Not bad. But it could have been better, especially since according to my records there were 11 days this month when I did not have a book in progress. Eleven days. That's like a third of the month. That could have been a whole extra book. Or two.

Oh well.

I still finished three books and a bunch of pages. That brings the yearly total to 25 books and 8,828 pages. If I want to accomplish that goal of 40 books by December 31, I need to finish 15 more in three months. Five books a month. Is it doable? Hmmm. We'll see.

Anyway. What'd I read in September? Honestly it was a bunch of fluff. But I needed fluff. Take a look:

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Fourth Comings by Megan McCafferty
Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty

The Alchemist was the only book I read this month that wasn't in the fluff category. It wasn't bad. I guess I'd recommend it.

And in a matter of moments I'm going to settle in and start a new book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan, later tonight. I admit, I probably wouldn't have picked this up before, but it's the selection for the University of Wisconsin's common reading program, Go Big Read. It's like a book club for my (former) university. But I've read Pollan before. I had to read The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World for a class back in college and it was kind of enjoyable. So I figured I'd see what his newest one has to say. I'll let you know what I think.