First Three Swims in 10 Months!
>> Thursday, June 18, 2026
I posted a few weeks ago that we had just joined a gym for the first time since March of 2020 (hmm.... what happened then?), and since then, I've had 3 swims.
ONE: Just over 2 weeks ago, I was literally "testing the waters" to see how my sore shoulder would hold up to swimming. And it went surprisingly OK! I swam 1200 yards total, and did 2 efforts of 200 yards each that were 3:02 and 3:04. I was REALLY happy with those times! I knew that they were faster because I only did 2 (and I did an easy 200 between them as well, so there was lots of rest), but the speed surprised me as much as being pretty much pain-free.
Still... just baby steps as to not over-aggravate something.
TWO: Then last week, we had just gotten back from a few days up north, and I had time to fit in a quick swim. This one was more humbling as I did 2x500 in 8:15 and 8:11 (a total of 1750 yards with warm-up, cool-down, and some kick drills near the end). I can usually get my 500s under 8:00 (and I usually do THREE), and in my best swimming days a decade ago, I could do 3x500 around 7:30. This was to be expected.
But still, the good news was that my shoulder wasn't flaring up!
THREE: Finally earlier this week, I hit the pool for some 200s. It was actually a bit shorter than last week's workout, but it was meant to be HARDER. I did a longer warm-up, then 4x200 in 3:10, 3:15, 3:14, and 3:09 (totaling 1700 yards with everything else). Those times were also expected: a bit on the slower side of average from past 6-8x200 workouts... so quite a bit slower considering I was hashed after doing just 4 of those 200s. I was happy with the first 3:10, and then I REALLY had to work for that 3:14 and 3:09! I was gassed. The bad news is that I felt my right shoulder "flare up" a little during a harder stoke in my cool-down, but then it felt fine the rest of the day.
So 4,650 yards of swimming in 3 weeks is nothing impressive, but I'm happy to be getting back at it. AND happy that my shoulder is mostly OK with it! Hopefully by the end of summer I can be up in the 2,500 yard range for a "normal" swim, but I have some work to do to get there!
Semi-Wordless Wednesday: Lake Vermilion Recap Video
>> Wednesday, June 17, 2026
I love this video.
Here's a 2 minute video of our trip up to Lake Vermilion 10 days ago with my boys, niece, and nephew:
Three Hard Workouts: Tempo Ride, Track Intervals, Bike Intervals
>> Monday, June 15, 2026
My boys and I got back from a few days up north on Tuesday. Wednesday was a pretty normal day of workouts.
Thursday I got out for a 34 mile ride with the first 20 as a hard tempo effort. Nothing fancy, but a good hard workout after a week away from my bike. I rode hard until split #4, when I ended 20 miles at 21.2 mph:
Speed and heart rate dropping after 20 miles (the arrow).
T-shirt and water bottle in the sun after my last interval.
2:00 rest between 800s, 90 sec rest between 400s
1:20 + 1:19 = 2:40.3
1:17 + 1:19 = 2:36.9
1:18 + 1:17 = 2:36.2
1:17 + 1:18 = 3:35.8
1:14.9
1:13.6
1:13.5
1:11.9
A PERFECT DESCEND!! The week before, my 800s were 2:43 down to just 1 that was 2:36. This workout was faster! But then my 400s on this workout were about the same speed as the week before.
Lots of laps, and then wandering around between trying not to die.
15 mph wind from the west - slow heading "out," fast coming "back."
Intervals between the 2 groups of laps.
Splits on the east side...
... and splits to the west. (Just before Hwy 100.)
The intervals are shown as the five "bumps" in heart rate.
5x4 mile efforts, 3 mins easy riding in between:
#1: 12:16, 19.6 mph
#2: 10:35, 22.7 mph
#3: 12:09, 19.7 mph
#4: 10:11, 23.6 mph
#5: 11:54, 20.2 mph
I thought my heart rate was going to show me pushing harder INTO the wind, but that HR graph above is pretty even (if anything, my biggest spikes are going fast WITH the wind near the end of #2 and #4).
That was a busy Saturday afternoon on the trail, so I was working my way carefully around lots of people which slowed me up a LITTLE. It was still a good effort after a few decent workouts!
The following day (Sunday, which was yesterday), I took it easy to let my legs rest after a few big days!
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