All right! Here's the deal. In order to achieve the overall time that I have in mind but ain't gonna tell you about, I need to be riding my bike 1 hour and 20 minutes after the starting horn goes. Allowing 4 minutes for my transition this leaves me 76 minutes for the swim. In 2009 I took almost 84 minutes. So that's an improvement of 10 percent and after churning around in the pool today I came to the sad realization that it is an improbable task....make that inconceivable, unachievable, out of the question, and impossible! Of course with that realization came the sudden freedom to go ahead and do it anyway. That may sound funny but that is exactly the way my mind processed it. Now I just have to figure out how.
So, I took my first lesson today. And it was free believe it or not! Swimming next to me was a 60 year old gentleman who I have known for years as he has also been part of the running community. Every morning Steve makes the 3 km walk from his house to arrive at the pool by about 6:30 am. He then proceeds to do his regular 80 lengths ( 2 kms) and then retraces his steps home. Today I offered him a ride and he took me up on it. As we were headin out he asked me to hold on for a minute while he took off his fluorescent vest and folded up his cane...his white cane!
But what about the lesson you may ask? Actually Steve is not a very fast swimmer so I don't think the lesson was about stroke improvement. He lives by himself in his own home, and never asks a thing of anyone other than a guiding elbow now and again. He is totally and completely blind, and goes to the pool every day and swims 2 kms. I think that was the lesson. It's actually quite mezmorizing to watch. He swims right beside the lane rope but never touches it, never veers off course, and never crashes into the end of the pool. I'm pretty damn sure that if I demonstrated the same kind of effort I would achive the times I want. Let's see if I have the resolve.
To give you an idea of where I'm at, I believe that I need to be able to swim 1 minute per lap in the pool without my wetsuit to have the confidence to achieve the time I need in the lake with my wetsuit. The Ironman distance is almost 80 laps and today I did 4 at that pace! Got a ways to go eh? Tomorrow I will try for five!
(30 kms computrainer, 1000 metres swim)
"One of the most important lessons that experience teaches is that, on the whole, success depends more upon character than upon either intellect or fortune"---William Hartpole
"Remember, there are no mistakes, only lessons. Love yourself, trust your choices, and everything is possible."---Cherie Carter-Scott
Love
Peter
So, I took my first lesson today. And it was free believe it or not! Swimming next to me was a 60 year old gentleman who I have known for years as he has also been part of the running community. Every morning Steve makes the 3 km walk from his house to arrive at the pool by about 6:30 am. He then proceeds to do his regular 80 lengths ( 2 kms) and then retraces his steps home. Today I offered him a ride and he took me up on it. As we were headin out he asked me to hold on for a minute while he took off his fluorescent vest and folded up his cane...his white cane!
But what about the lesson you may ask? Actually Steve is not a very fast swimmer so I don't think the lesson was about stroke improvement. He lives by himself in his own home, and never asks a thing of anyone other than a guiding elbow now and again. He is totally and completely blind, and goes to the pool every day and swims 2 kms. I think that was the lesson. It's actually quite mezmorizing to watch. He swims right beside the lane rope but never touches it, never veers off course, and never crashes into the end of the pool. I'm pretty damn sure that if I demonstrated the same kind of effort I would achive the times I want. Let's see if I have the resolve.
To give you an idea of where I'm at, I believe that I need to be able to swim 1 minute per lap in the pool without my wetsuit to have the confidence to achieve the time I need in the lake with my wetsuit. The Ironman distance is almost 80 laps and today I did 4 at that pace! Got a ways to go eh? Tomorrow I will try for five!
(30 kms computrainer, 1000 metres swim)
"One of the most important lessons that experience teaches is that, on the whole, success depends more upon character than upon either intellect or fortune"---William Hartpole
"Remember, there are no mistakes, only lessons. Love yourself, trust your choices, and everything is possible."---Cherie Carter-Scott
Love
Peter
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