Back in the Pool

The last time I swam with a team I was a freshman in college and it was UW water polo. Those crazy girls and 10pm practices (I am a serious morning person) were enough to keep me out of the pool for the past 8 years. But I knew it was time to go back. I really need a regimented practice schedule to build up my endurance. And I have to admit, very few things in my life make me happier than a nice hard swim practice to start my day (it's one of the things that makes us swimmers so crazy). So I went to the CSU Masters practice Wednesday morning. I didn't really know what to expect, but I knew that there were Tri Club members at all of the local Masters teams. I got there early and the first person I saw was a familiar face from the Cleve. Tri Club picnic. Ben is an ironman, and seeing the ironman tattoo on his back(which is pretty awesome, by the way) made me instantly intimidated. But he and all of the swimmers were really great and made me feel very comfortable (even though he told me that we weren't friends anymore when he found out that I was a swimmer :) ). I made it through 2800 yards of practice, which is 800 more than the last time I was in the pool. The 50 meter pool makes the practice fly by. The only downside of the swim is that I did slightly too much breaststroke (Wednesday is stroke day) and hurt my hip a little bit. But overall it was a great day. I did a 2 mile run at night which convinced me that I need a couple more run-free days to recover from the half marathon. And I finally got a good night's sleep!

My schedule for the rest of the week:

Friday: 6am swim practice- sprint day.
6pm If I feel up to it I'll bike to Squire Farm. I need to take care of my garden!

Saturday: Mentor Headlands training day! 25 mile bike, 750 meter open water swim, and 5 or 10k run depending on my legs. I am very excited to try out my new wetsuit.

Sunday- Middlefield bike ride. We'll do the 40 or 50 mile route. Then cool down with a beer and some bar food.

Monday- Back to swim practice. Distance day. Swimmers are pretty hard core to meet at 6am on a holiday. I love it!