Short, Speedy Wednesday

>> Thursday, June 18, 2009

(BTW: Click Here [and leave a comment on that post] to be put in the drawing to win a $75.00 gift certificate to OnlineShoes.com.)

Yesterday AM, I headed to the pool for some intervals. My next tri is over 4 weeks away, and it’s just a 400 meter swim. So I figured I’d do short intervals: 50 yards. I’d never done intervals that short; I usually do 16-20 x 100 or 4 x 500. Yesterday, I thought I’d try around 15 x 50 (with 20 seconds rest) to work on some speed.

I ended up doing 17 (I think I should have done a few more) with an average of 0:41.15 / 50 yards:

41, 40, 40, 42, 43, 42, 43, 43, 42, 42, 42, 42, 41, 41, 40, 41, 41

I was circle-swimming for the first few intervals with 2 other people. Before I started, I chatted with one of the ladies: “Good morning. How are you?” I told her I’d be doing 1 lap intervals so I’d be stopping every lap, but I’d be out of everyone’s way at the shallow end for those 20 seconds between intervals. (If I’m circle-swimming, I want to make sure we all know what each other’s doing so there are no surprises when it comes to turning around at either end.) I was TOTALLY being nice and conversational, and her only response was a VERY SNOOTY “Well, YOU just make sure to stay out of OUR way!” What? Really? That seemed uncalled for. Maybe she misunderstood me. I dunno.

Anyway, I circle-swam just fine, and made EXTRA sure to swing wide around Miss Snooty Pants. On my 2nd interval, I swam wide around her, and ended up scraping my nose right along the floating lane dividers. Not my hand. Not my shoulder. But my nose. The nose on my face. More proof that I can NOT swim in a straight line in a lake OR in a pool.

Three hours later, after I had a meeting at one of the schools where I teach and I had been home grading projects for an hour, I happened to glance in the mirror. I had a nice scrape on my nose that NEARLY matched the purple on my sprained hand:


I’m a wreck!

About 6 hours after swimming, I hit the track for some 400s. As the title of this post implies, yesterday was for SHORT, INTENSE burst of speed at the pool and at the track. Talking with Pharmie’s uncle (who’s athletically inclined), he told me that to try to get my 5K time down close to 17:00 (which I’m NOT shooting for this year), I need to be running 8-12 400s at 70 seconds pace. I thought I’d give that a try.

(75 seconds rest in between.)

#1: 1:10. “On the nose. But I can NOT do that 8 more times...”

#2: 1:07. “Whoa. Ease up there little boy with girlish legs big boy.”

#3: 1:09. “Better. Good”

#4: 1:10. “Getting hard. Can I go home yet?”

#5: 1:11. “Hard. My legs are beat up. Am I tasting blood?”

#6: 1:12. “I can NOT do this 2 more times. Once more is it.”

#7: 1:12. “Seemingly ‘all out.’ Rough. Slower than it should have been.”

That was it. I couldn’t get myself to do one more. I felt like my legs and my core were both going to blow-out. That was the first time that I’d done 400s in 14 months (since Grandma’s Marathon training 2008, just before I got injured). I think the next time I try 400s, I’ll shoot for doing 9 at about this pace. We’ll see. Regardless, it was a good, speedy day.

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16 comments:

Maria 6:29 AM, June 18, 2009  

ok, you should just start wrapping yourself in bubble wrap whenever you train or race so you dont get hurt anymore...kids these days!

Coach Liz 7:49 AM, June 18, 2009  

Gads I hate those snooty swimmers that really do not want to share a lane and would prefer that you beat it out of there quick so they can have the entire lane to themselves. Obviously they were never on a swim team and had to share a lane with anywhere from 4 to 7 other people.

Unknown 8:38 AM, June 18, 2009  

those are some speedy 400s. I do a lot of 400s as well to lower my times in longer runs. They do help. Unfortunately I am only running them in 90 seconds.

Velma 8:41 AM, June 18, 2009  

You are falling apart! I find that there are some crabby people at the pool. Try fast 25s - they are killer!

X-Country2 8:56 AM, June 18, 2009  

I'd just wear that bike helmet around all day every day, if I were you. :o)

Christi 9:09 AM, June 18, 2009  

Miss Snooty Pants gives swimmers a bad name!!!

joyRuN 9:10 AM, June 18, 2009  

Your nose?! That's a first!

This is why circle swimming terrifies me, as slow as I am.

Alisa 9:23 AM, June 18, 2009  

I hate pool snobs! I always tell those swimming in my lane if I'm circling what I'll be doing, I have received similar responses--biotches! I now try to do my swims when I'm not going to encounter pool snots!

Those are speedy 400s. I've never done 400s, maybe I should try them out. I've always done 800s or 1600s.

Eric 11:08 AM, June 18, 2009  

You are just a mess lately, aren't you?

Next time you pass miss snooty....push her under. Scrape her nose....on the bottom the of pool.

Kim 11:09 AM, June 18, 2009  

at least you are honest with your circle swimming! what is with these rude swim people!

your poor nose! you are a mess steve!!!

GREAT job on the 400s!

Missy 11:56 AM, June 18, 2009  

Pool snob, pool snob, uncalled for, for sure! The nose...that's a new one to me!

B.o.B. 12:19 PM, June 18, 2009  

I KNEW IT! I totally new someone had to have punched me in the butt while I was sleeping.

Post was hilarious, not creepy.

Great job on the intervals. They can be sucky.

teacherwoman 5:19 PM, June 18, 2009  

I swear there is a handful of swimmers like that at our pool as well. They're usually the ones that are there everyday at the same time, doing the same thing, in the same lane, and if you even try to throw them for a loop they get psycho on you!

Nat 7:01 PM, June 18, 2009  

I feel your pain. I scraped my shoulder last week on the lane. Oh and about two years ago, the lid to my washing machine fell on my nose and looked like a giant zit (see old entries on my blog for proof). Good times kids. Good times.

Unknown 9:22 PM, June 18, 2009  

Your interval times make me jealous. I don't know if I could do a 400 that fast if I was being chased by the Grim Reaper....Well, maybe I could, but not 6 more times!

Beth 10:41 PM, June 18, 2009  

Oh, no... some times these things come in threes. Be careful!!

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